Supporting Financial Health Startups

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As the global fintech venture capital market grows rapidly – topping $50 billion in the first half of 2021 alone – social-minded investors have shown growing interest in technology’s potential to democratize access to financial services in emerging markets and other parts of the world where inequality is rampant.

Over the past few years, Village Capital has run Finance Forward, a global coalition created with MetLife Foundation, Moody’s, PayPal and local partners to support early-stage entrepreneurs building tech-enabled solutions around financial health in the United States, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and India. We recently published a report that analyzed data from the more than 1,000 companies that applied to our Finance Forward programs around the world.

The findings paint a picture of the global state of impact-minded fintech startups – what we call financial health startups. These are market-based innovations that are focused on democratizing access to financial services and economic mobility – including tools and services that help people manage their income, get a loan when they need it and france whatsapp number data plan for their financial futures.

The report has lessons for impact investors who want to go further in advancing equitable fintech investment – and for foundations and government leaders who can also play a part in growing the ecosystem for financial health innovation. I’ll discuss some of those lessons below, sharing findings relevant to each of these three stakeholder groups.