FinHealth US 2021

Village Capital, with support from Freddie Mac, PayPal and TIAA, is launching FinHealth US 2021, an accelerator program for early-stage startups in the United States contributing to the financial health and economic opportunity of everyday people and small business owners. 

Apply to receive access to Village Capital’s award-winning curriculum and connect one-on-one with experts including investors, entrepreneurs, nonprofit executives, corporate leaders, and potential partners, including subject matter experts and industry professionals from Freddie Mac, PayPal and TIAA.

About our work in Financial Health and Economic Opportunity

Village Capital manages one of the most active financial health/fintech accelerators in the world. 

Since 2009, we have supported more than 1,000 early-stage entrepreneurs through our investment readiness programs. Our affiliated fund, VilCap Investments, has invested in more than 100 program graduates who have raised more than $500M in additional capital, including eight early-stage US financial health/fintech companies like Vault, Fig Loans, and Finix.

In 2019, Village Capital was named Best Fintech Accelerator at the annual Finovate conference, and our investment-readiness curriculum was ranked by the Global Accelerator Learning Initiative as one of the best accelerator programs in the world.

According to Pew Research Center, roughly 51% of non-retired adults in the US say that the economic consequences of the coronavirus outbreak will make it harder for them to achieve their financial goals. Unfortunately, systematic challenges continue to exist, often with disproportionate impacts on BIPOC, women, low-income, LGBTQ+,  disabled, and justice-system involved communities. 

As we recruit entrepreneurs this year, we will focus on startup innovations that build on the financial health and economic opportunity of everyday people and small business owners in the US. This will also include recruiting startups addressing key wealth inequities and the racial wealth gap.

People-focused innovation areas include, but are not limited to:

• Preparing, selecting, financing, and maintaining a home over time

• Preparing for retirement, health, and family needs as people age

• Increasing and smoothing income for people across their jobs

• Building credit and getting out of “harmful” debt

Small business owner-focused innovation areas include, but are not limited to:

• Accessing and navigating capital

• Offering innovative workplace financial health solutions 

• Building revenue generation

Overall factors we consider:

• Scalability: Tech-enabled solutions with high-growth business models.

• Agency: Solutions that empower users with agency over their financial decisions.

• Cultural and behavioral sensitivity: Solutions that use a creative, cultural, and behavioral lens.

• Inequity and its intersections: Solutions supporting communities facing financial health inequities based on race, age, gender, geographic location and income level - among other intersections. 

Eligible startups must have:

• Legal incorporation as a for-profit entity 

• Scalable solution that tackles a financial health challenge for low-to-moderate income communities or small businesses in the U.S.

• Operations in or have the ability to expand business to the U.S. market 

• Have a minimum viable product (MVP) with less than $1M raised in equity

• Have at least one full-time founder based in the U.S.

• Have meaningful customer or business validation (not limited to revenue, can also be successful pilot studies, number of users, and/or strategic partnerships)

Benefits startups will receive:

• Ability to network and receive mentorship from potential strategic partners, customers, founders and investors across the Americas.

• Diverse and inclusive network of mentors and founders within financial health and fintech

• Interactive sessions tailored to help your company identify early milestones and prepare for your next round of capital (if relevant)

• Access to an investment analyst who will coach you 1:1 on building a financial model, identifying unit economics, and on using financial metrics to drive both the business and investor diligence

• Participate in mock board meetings with representatives from financial institutions, corporates, fintechs, and investors that can help your organization scale

• Exposure on Village Capital’s program website and other communications collateral

Please reach out to bryson.hearne@vilcap.com or edna.samron@vilcap.com to learn more.