Last weekend, PayPal co-hosted an event to celebrate and empower social impact entrepreneurs who are working to democratize financial services and increase financial health for underserved communities and small businesses in the US. Convened in collaboration with
Village Capital an innovative non-profit that
PayPal supports and collaborates with globally, the 2016 FinTech Entrepreneur Showcase gave US-based entrepreneurs the opportunity to showcase their innovative solutions to a range of financial participation challenges. These entrepreneurs are leading candidates for Village Capital’s
FinTech: US 2016 program, a four-month venture development program kicking off at the end of May. Held during the annual
South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, the event was attended by over 100 entrepreneurs, investors, community leaders and ecosystem partners.
Together, we heard pitches from a group of innovative and motivated social impact entrepreneurs who are committed to improving financial health around the world. The start-up companies we heard from approached the problems they were seeking to address in a number of unique ways:
- Airfordabledemocratizes air travel through its online layaway payment experience.
- BanQuis a trust networks-based economic identity platform for people living in extreme poverty.
- Camino Financial is a credit marketplace that helps Hispanic-owned businesses access capital.
- LearnLuxhelps Millennials learn personal finance skills through online interactive learning tools, and connects them to the resources they need to take action.
- Lennyoffers credit lines to Millennials exclusively via a dedicated mobile application. The platform also assists in building or repairing credit scores.
- ModernLendis a technology company that uses alternative data metrics to lend to creditworthy international citizens currently overlooked by traditional lenders.
- Painless1099automates tax withholding and saving for 1099 earners, like freelancers and real-estate agents.
- saldo.mx is a cross-border bill pay solution for immigrants.
- Splurgis a mobile application that helps users save for things they’d love to buy, but can’t afford—by making savings groups with your friends.
- Wealthy Lifedesigns financial literacy and workforce development education technology games.
Each of these projects presents fresh, innovative solutions and seek to bring something new to the financial system. After a difficult deliberation, the team from LearnLux was named the winner of this round. Congratulations to the LearnLux team and we look forward to seeing them build and grow their solution.
The event in Austin last week was an important step in selecting finalists for the Village Capital FinTech: US 2016 program, and will be followed by subsequent events over the next few weeks and months. Village Capital’s unique peer-selected investment model will ultimately enable two companies from these programs to receive an offer for investment in pre-committed capital from VilCap Investments and Access Ventures. In addition to this program in the US, we’re also collaborating with Village Capital to run similar venture development programs in Latin America and India this year.
It’s great to see how much thought and focus is being devoted to solving some fundamental financial challenges, and I look forward to helping to further that work in the months and years ahead. PayPal employees will have the opportunity to participate as volunteers in all the upcoming Village Capital programs around the world, offering their skills and expertise by serving as speakers, ongoing program advisors and one-on-one mentors.
At PayPal, we have an extraordinary opportunity to draw on our unique capabilities, our technology platform and our scale to have lasting societal impact. Our relationship with Village Capital – and our support of the social impact entrepreneurs who go through their programs – is just one of the ways we’re working to fulfill this vision.
Stay tuned for more news on our collaboration with Village Capital to come!