Village Capital has announced the closing of the Financial Solutions for Migrants program, an accelerator that supported impact-driven startups developing digital financial inclusion solutions for migrants, with a specific focus on migrant women in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
The program which was funded by the Impact-Linked Fund for Gender Inclusive Fintech (ILF for GIF), managed by the Impact-Linked Finance Fund and supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, and the Austrian Development Agency, the operational unit of Austrian Development Cooperation, supported 31 startups to further develop and refine their products and solutions to fit the needs of different migrant communities including migrant women and refugees, through a combination of virtual investment readiness training, and an immersive in-person summit held in Istanbul, Turkey on the week that marked World Refugee Day.
Reflecting on the momentous occasion, program alumni Solape Akinpelu, co-founder of HerVest took to social media to share her experience, “Localising solutions is hard. Scaling it is harder. When you find partners/organisations that understand the warts of your growth journey and help to navigate, it’s always epic and that’s what Village Capital did as we wrapped up the Financial Solutions for Migrants and Women Program in Istanbul, Turkiye this week.”
Sam Badoo, a proud immigrant and founder of Fleri a cross-border health marketplace for global migrants and alumni of the program also shared his sentiments stating, “Today is #WorldRefugeeDay and perhaps the most meaningful one I’ve ever commemorated. I also happen to find myself in #Türkiye for this year’s celebration and there could not be a more important country to fight for a better life for refugees. It’s inspiring to see how other companies like Fleri are solving a myriad of problems specific to the state of migrants and specifically refugees around the world.”
“As we conclude this program, we are humbled by the progress made by the startups developing financial solutions in this space,” shared Alicia Sonrson, Village Capital’s MENA Region Lead. “We recognize that there is still a significant amount of work to be done to create a more inclusive and supportive environment for migrants around the world.”
- Hervest– Pioneering inclusive finance for the African woman
- Kotani Pay-Providing you with an easy stablecoin/ fiat conversion for all your cross-border needs. Kotani Pay enables blockchain protocols, dapps, and blockchain fintech companies to integrate seamlessly to local payment channels in Africa.
- Lucy-A digital banking app for women in Singapore. Offering free accounts with prepaid Mastercards, savings.
- Monak– a digital life solution in Middle East providing financial and lifestyle solutions for working expats, travelers and locals.
- Mitrata- provides credit facility to the marginalized, excluded and vulnerable groups for enterprise development and other essential needs. Mitrata aims at the economic upliftment of the poor and marginalized across all religions, castes and communities. Mitrata implements activities to provide marginalized households with easy access to financial services including access to credit and insurance.
- Mother Finance from Myanmar which provides consumer loans through its digital lending mobile application that automates underwriting process in real time using thousands of alternative data signals.
- Patapia responds to the prevailing challenges facing refugees in Uganda by empowering refugee women and youth to become economically independent, strong, and self-determined leaders of Change.
- Payclide users can easily accept payments, enjoy free money transfers, set savings, invest, make smart spending budgets and access flexible credit instantly.
- Purpl, your smart way to receive money in Lebanon in just a few clicks. Karl bought a one-way ticket back to Lebanon and here I am!
- Purpl alows users to send money and cash out fresh USD at ZERO fees instantly, anywhere, anytime. Purpl promises the sender it will be up to 2x cheaper than with your usual money transfer companies.
- Regxtra– Which provides easy, quick and affordable digital financial solutions to unbanked individuals and micro businesses in rural and semi urban communities in Africa.
- Sav is a fintech platform that helps users effortlessly understand, save and organize their money.
- Exuus inspires resilience and enables communities to achieve their optimal satisfaction by positively impacting the future
- https://www.rahat.io/auth/login
- Uqudo-Innovative digital identity company in the Middle East and Africa.
- Susu-a health insurance platform for loved ones oryour families in Africa the best access to health care services.
- http://tumiia.com/
- We Are Caring is an ethical recruitment agency to secure the IRIS certification, the United Nation’s International Organisation for Migration initiative to promote ethical recruitment of migrant workers.
- XPay, a fintech giving users full control over the way they plan and manage their finances for businesses and individuals.
- Balad is a FinTech company that connects Global licensed MTOs to Egypt Remittance payout network via different remittances’ providers and aggregators and banks in Egypt
- Fleri is providing the much-need controls and visibility that those in the diaspora have always desired by ensuring that the hard-earned money immigrants send back home transparently supports the needs of their loved ones.
- Finhazi-Connecting the underserved to financial services by digitizing collective savings and providing seamless financial ecosystems. Designed for savings, lending and investment groups to simplify their management, increase collaboration, and enhance communication to make mobilizing and disbursing funds more impactful. Finhazi offers Member Management, Contributions & Shares, Savings & Loans, Income & Expenses, Budgeting & Accounting, Member Self-Service, and Admin Payments & Reporting.
- FatakaPay– is a new way to access money faster by offering virtual credit facilities to empower all Indians to shop, pay and manage their finances without worry.
- Empowch– a mobile To Mobile Money platforms helping users to send and receive money borderless and instantly.
- Dinarak aims to be the lowest cost solution in the market, with the simplest systems (to work even with basic mobile handsets) and with the most extensive network of physical agents nationwide.
- Credify‘s verified digital identity platform enables digital ecosystem operators to offer attractive and contextual financial services, built on top of a verified digital identity platform.
- C Wallet provides Financial Solution and Financial Literacy to both Consumers and Merchants without leaving anyone behind. It goes beyond remittance and digital banking allowing users to receive their salary on time, conduct On-line, Off-line, On-Mobility and On-Delivery payment transactions and ultimately send money home, anytime, anywhere with any currency.
- Chalo Network is a financial solutions company based out of India to serve the unique needs of the migrant population across the globe. Whether it’s remittances, savings, investments, or any other financial requirement.
- Bandhu connects workers with jobs and housing. Bandhu, puts information in the hands of these workers so that they can make more informed migration decisions. It does so by creating matches between employers looking for low/moderate skill workers, potential migrants/workers, and owners/occupants offering informal affordable housing on rent. It also shifts the contractor’s private incentives in a way that benefits the entire system.
- Aseel is a tech-based startup connecting artisans to sell antique handmade products while allowing transparent humanitarian aid to and from anywhere worldwide. The easy and user-friendly platform of Aseel supports thousands of makers to connect with global buyers while leveraging donors to aid vulnerable families.
- PayingTone is a Rwanda-based buy now pay later platform allowing users to shop easily for their favourite items at affordable prices in monthly installments of your choice.
- YuvaPay-a Financial Inclusion Mobile Payment Solution which offers a fully functional offline mobile payment solution with a wallet and BHIM UPI features.
- Vitto helps you to repay your loan more conveniently and safely. Vitto is specifically designed for local-language preferred users with assistive tools.
- ZADA allows individuals to own and control their own digital identities. ZADA offer a number of advantages over traditional identity systems, and can help to improve the security, privacy, and convenience of digital identity management.