New commitment to help fund the growth of 30
early-stage companies focused on advancing financial inclusion for
underserved consumers
Catalyst Fund, managed by BFA Global and Rockefeller
Philanthropy Advisors (RPA), today announced a new £12 million GBP
($15 million USD) commitment from UK aid and J.P. Morgan to advance
financial inclusion for underserved people across the world. Over
the next three years, the inclusive fintech accelerator will
support the growth of 30 additional startups across five key
emerging markets for fintech innovation: Kenya, Nigeria, South
Africa, India, and Mexico.
The announcement is taking place alongside the UK-Africa
Investment Summit, which is being hosted by the Prime Minister and
brings together businesses, governments and international
institutions to showcase and promote the breadth and quality of
investment opportunities across Africa. In addition to its
expansion, Catalyst Fund is announcing its latest cohort of
inclusive fintech startups, including:
- Pesakit - Kenya-based app for mobile money agents
- Kwara - Kenya-based online and mobile banking platform for
Savings + Credit Cooperatives (SACCOs)
- Cowrywise - savings and investment tool targeted toward
Nigerian youth
- Meerkat - South Africa-based debt counseling and savings
product
- Farmart - India-based digital credit platform for farmers
- Spoon - South Africa-based savings and credit offering for
women-owned, subsistence enterprises
“We’re thrilled to enter the next phase of this journey,
building on lessons learned over the last four years, to position
ourselves as the best partners for innovators building affordable,
accessible and appropriate solutions designed to improve the
financial health of underserved populations in emerging markets,”
said Catalyst Fund Director Maelis Carraro. “The additional support
from UK aid and continued support from J.P. Morgan will enable us
to deepen our local footprints and ecosystem development role in
each of our key markets, as well as welcome new partners that can
support our mission.”
£12 million GBP ($15 million USD) expansion
Despite marked progress on reducing poverty over the past
decades, nearly half of the world’s population lives on less than
$5.50 a day. With the additional investment from UK aid and J.P.
Morgan, Catalyst Fund will support the development, growth and
reach of 30 new fintech solutions to boost financial inclusion for
an additional 1 million underserved people in Kenya, Nigeria, South
Africa, India and Mexico.
Catalyst Fund is focusing on these markets because of their
vibrant fintech industries which house a significant number of
early-stage startups across Africa, Latin America and Asia, and the
need to address critical challenges faced by local underserved
consumers.
This new commitment will enable the program to apply lessons
learned from accelerating startups in emerging markets over the
past four years and focus on:
- Providing critical pre-seed capital and bespoke venture
building support;
- Broadening the pool of investors who receive 1:1 connections
with Catalyst Fund companies;
- Accelerating the innovation ecosystems in each market to
improve startups’ access to capital, corporate partnerships and
talent; and
- Sharing best practices toolkits, learnings and insights with
the global fintech community to spur innovation across
markets.
“With the support of UK aid, Catalyst Fund is connecting more
fintech start-ups in emerging African markets with expertise and
investment from the UK and around the world,” said UK Minister for
Africa Andrew Stephenson. “This innovative work is crucial to
changing the lives of people around the world by providing access
to basic services like pensions, lending and health care. The
UK-Africa Investment Summit will create more partnerships that will
boost investment, jobs and growth to benefit both people and
businesses across Africa and the UK.”
The new support from UK aid, in addition to the continued
support from J.P. Morgan and fiscal sponsor Rockefeller
Philanthropy Advisors, will enable Catalyst Fund to build on
learnings and insights from the organizations’ home markets in
London and New York.
“Financial inclusion is the cornerstone of resilient communities
and households,” said Carol Lake, Head of International Markets
Philanthropy, J.P. Morgan. “At J.P. Morgan, as part of our $125
million global commitment to financial health, we are supporting
the development and growth of innovative fintech solutions that can
help underserved people across the world save, reduce their debt
and improve their lives.”
A history of impact
Catalyst Fund was created in 2016 with support from J.P. Morgan
and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to support
entrepreneurs building solutions that improve the financial health
of underserved communities.
To date, Catalyst Fund has accelerated 25 fintech startups, who
have so far raised over 10x the amount of grant capital they
received and are serving over 1.2 million customers globally. Based
on learnings so far, in the next phase Catalyst Fund will focus
more on businesses who are building solutions that go beyond
financial access and inclusion, to improve the overall financial
health of underserved consumers.
Early-stage fintech companies across all emerging markets
struggle to raise the capital and access the talent they need to
test their solutions in-market. Catalyst Fund’s approach has
demonstrated that a combination of flexible grant capital, tailored
venture building support and curated introductions to investors
leads to better growth outcomes for startups designing solutions
for the underserved.
"Catalyst Fund is itself an innovative example of collaboration
across sectors and assets," said Melissa Berman, President &
CEO of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. "We are proud to be a
part of an initiative that combines mentoring from impact
investors, grant capital from committed donors and advisory
services from expert consulting firm BFA Global."
About Catalyst Fund
Catalyst Fund, managed by BFA Global, is an accelerator for
inclusive fintech startups and innovation ecosystems, in emerging
markets. Launched initially in 2016, with support from J.P. Morgan
and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, today Catalyst Fund is
supported by the Department for International Development (DFID)
and J.P. Morgan, and fiscally sponsored by Rockefeller Philanthropy
Advisors. The mission of Catalyst Fund is to accelerate the
development of affordable, accessible, and appropriate financial
solutions for the world’s 3 billion underserved.
About The Department for International Development
(DFID)
The Department for International Development (DFID) leads the
UK’s work to end extreme poverty. DFID is tackling the global
challenges of our time including poverty and disease, mass
migration, insecurity and conflict. Its work is building a safer,
healthier, more prosperous world for people in developing countries
and in the UK too.
About JPMorgan Chase
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) is a leading global
financial services firm with assets of $2.7 trillion and operations
worldwide. The Firm is a leader in investment banking, financial
services for consumers and small businesses, commercial banking,
financial transaction processing, and asset management. A component
of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, JPMorgan Chase & Co.
serves millions of customers in the United States and many of the
world’s most prominent corporate, institutional and government
clients under its J.P. Morgan and Chase brands. Information about
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is available at www.jpmorganchase.com.
About Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors
Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA) is a nonprofit
organization that currently advises on and manages more than $200
million in annual giving by individuals, families, corporations and
foundations. Continuing the Rockefeller family’s legacy of
thoughtful, effective philanthropy, RPA remains at the forefront of
philanthropic growth and innovation, with a diverse team led by
experienced grant makers with significant depth of knowledge across
the spectrum of issue areas. Founded in 2002, RPA has grown into
one of the world’s largest philanthropic service organizations and
has facilitated more than $3 billion in grantmaking to nearly 70
countries. RPA also serves as a fiscal sponsor for more than 40
projects, providing governance, management and operational
infrastructure to support their charitable purposes. For more
information, please visit www.rockpa.org.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200120005038/en/
Catalyst Fund Thea Sokolowski
tsokolowski@bfaglobal.com
DFID mediateam@dfid.gov.uk / +44 20 7023 0600
J.P. Morgan Amalia Kontesi
Amalia.kontesi@jpmchase.com
Richard Hillary richard.hillary@jpmorgan.com
JP Morgan Chase (NYSE:JPM)
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