Fintech for the People

Cultivating Prosperity: Verqor Aims to Revolutionize Agricultural Finance in Mexico Fintech for the People Season 8, Episode 4 featuring Valentina Rogacheva, Co-founder of Verqor Amee Parbhoo, Managing Partner of Accion Ventures, sits down with Valentina Rogacheva, Co-founder of Verqor, to explore the ways her company is tackling the significant gap in financial services for Mexico’s agricultural sector. Valentina shares the journey of identifying the deep-seated challenges farmers face, from the inefficiencies of traditional banking to the lack of products tailored to their needs. She explains how these obstacles push farmers towards informal credit and limit their potential for growth and economic mobility. Valentina details Verqor’s innovative fintech model, designed specifically for the agricultural ecosystem. By offering cashless, digital credit that can only be used for approved agricultural inputs, Verqor ensures the financing is used productively. She discusses their B2B2C strategy, partnering with crop buyers and retailers to mitigate risk, gathering crucial data for their alternative credit scoring model, and creating a transparent, resilient supply chain. Verqor’s approach not only results in an impressively low default rate but also embeds services like climate insurance, empowering farmers to increase their yields, adopt sustainable practices, and achieve greater financial stability. Episode highlights: Addressing the financial exclusion of small and medium size farmers in rural Mexico. Providing fast, accessible, and cashless digital credit tailored for the agricultural sector. Embedding finance within the agricultural supply chain through a B2B2C model. Mitigating risk and maintaining low default rates through strategic partnerships with crop buyers and suppliers. Ensuring the productive use of credit by restricting it to the purchase of high-quality agricultural inputs. Promoting higher yields, increased income, and sustainable farming practices through better inputs and climate insurance. Building and motivating a team that bridges the gap between the traditionally non-digital agriculture industry and the innovative world of fintech. The future vision for Verqor as a comprehensive financial partner for the entire agricultural value chain. To learn more about Verqor, visit their website. Learn more about Accion Ventures on our website and LinkedIn. 

Fintech for the People Season 8, Episode 3 featuring Neal Thakker, Founder and CEO of Magma Neal Thakker, Founder and CEO of Magma, joins Amee Parbhoo, Managing Partner of Accion Ventures, on the podcast this week for an exploration of  the massive opportunity that exists to modernize India's current manufacturing sector. Against the backdrop of a global supply chain shift, Neal explains how Indian factories are poised for huge growth but are often held back by traditional, inefficient practices. He shares his journey from working in supply chain management to founding Magma, a comprehensive platform designed to solve the core operational and financial challenges facing small and medium size factories. Neal details how Magma functions as an end-to-end industrial solutions provider, moving beyond a simple marketplace model. The platform seeks to address critical pain points by bundling services like specialty raw material procurement, green energy solutions, waste management, and logistics. By embedding finance directly into these workflows, Magma helps factories overcome issues like blocked working capital and rigid minimum order quantities. This integrated approach not only improves day-to-day operations but also tackles the biggest challenge for any factory owner: improving capacity utilization. Looking ahead, Neal discusses his vision for expanding Magma's embedded finance offerings to include smarter credit underwriting and innovative insurance products tailored for the manufacturing industry. Episode highlights: The emergence of opportunities for India's manufacturing sector. Solving the key challenges for small and medium sized factories: unreliable supply chains, blocked working capital, and a lack of digitization. Magma’s model of bundling diverse services, from raw materials to waste management, - to become an integrated part of a factory’s operations. Using embedded finance to eliminate restrictive minimum order quantities and free up cash flow. Focusing on capacity utilization as the most critical metric for a factory's success. Building relationships that foster trust and drive digital adoption in a traditional industry. The future of embedded finance in manufacturing, including smarter underwriting and tailored insurance products. Building resilient teams by prioritizing deep industry expertise for key operational roles. Transforming India's industrial backbone to compete on a global scale. To learn more about Magma, visit their website. Learn more about Accion Ventures on our website and LinkedIn. 

Fintech for the People Season 8, Episode 2 featuring Fernando Olloqui, Founder of LicifyIn this episode of Fintech for the People, guest Fernando Olloqui, founder of Licify, dives into the massive yet deeply inefficient construction industry. He shares his firsthand experience with the financial challenges faced by subcontractors, a journey that led him from the brink of panic over unpredictable payments to building a fintech solution designed to solve these systemic problems. Fernando explains how Licify is seeking to bring an outdated industry into the digital age.Fernando details the nightmare of cash flow management for small contractors, where winning more business can paradoxically lead to financial ruin due to a severe negative cash flow cycle. Licify addresses this by embedding financial services directly into the construction procurement and payment workflow. The platform streamlines everything from bidding and compliance to billing and payments, reducing the time it takes for subcontractors to get paid from an average of two months to just two weeks. This creates a "win-win" for the entire supply chain, de-risking projects for builders and providing financial stability for contractors. Looking forward, Fernando shares his vision for Licify to evolve from a system of record to a "system of action," using AI to automate complex processes and further boost efficiency.Episode highlights:Addressing significant working capital challenges for subcontractors in the construction industry.Streamlining and accelerating payment cycles from months to weeks.Digitalizing the historically manual procurement and compliance processes in construction.Integrating embedded finance tools like invoice discounting directly into construction transactions.Connecting major contractors with a vast network of suppliers and subcontractors.Leveraging AI to automate administrative tasks and enhance operational predictability within the construction supply chain.Building resilient teams within challenging industry landscapes.Transforming the construction sector towards greater productivity and digitalization.To learn more about Licify, visit their website. Learn more about Accion Ventures on our website and LinkedIn.

Today’s episode of Fintech for the People marks an exciting new chapter, as hosts Amee Parbhoo and Rahil Rangwala, Managing Partners of the newly rebranded Accion Ventures, announce the successful close of a new $61.6 million fund. They also introduce the season's central theme: a deep dive into how verticalized embedded finance is dramatically increasing access to crucial financial services for small businesses in traditionally overlooked sectors globally.Listen nowExpressing his enthusiasm for Accion Ventures' name change, Rahil feels that it reflects their decade of impact as a leading inclusive fintech investor. He and Amee note that the new fund targets innovations in AI, infrastructure, and embedded finance, aiming for vast opportunities in underserved communities. Our hosts also define verticalized embedded finance as contextualizing business transactions — goods, payments, and data interchange — with solutions that are specifically tailored to sectors like construction, agriculture, and logistics, addressing unique small business challenges.Episode Highlights:Accion Ventures rebranding.Successful second fund closure.Commitment to fintech for inclusion.Fintech's future with AI and embedded finance.Defining embedded finance.Verticalized financial solutions for specific industries.Importance of founder expertise.Expanding financial access for small businesses.To learn more about Accion Ventures, visit our website, and follow us on LinkedIn.

This episode of Fintech for the People is focused on the critical research around risks and bias in AI, explaining the importance of equitable AI and its impact on the financial ecosystem. Our guest, Alexandra Rizzi, Senior Research Director at the Center for Financial Inclusion, shares insights about various challenges, including bias and contextual differences, emphasizing the need for inclusive outcomes in financial decision-making processes. She highlights scenarios where seemingly neutral AI models may inadvertently perpetuate biases, underscoring the importance of understanding the context and nuances of different markets. Exploring mitigation strategies, Alexandra Rizzi outlines a three-step approach focusing on understanding AI usage, identifying biases, and evaluating outcomes. She emphasizes the need for ongoing monitoring and governance mechanisms to address harmful biases effectively. Moreover, Alexandra sheds light on collaborative efforts involving stakeholders such as investors, operators, and regulators in refining ethical AI practices.   To learn more about the Center for Financial Inclusion, visit their website and download their report on Equitable AI for Inclusive Finance. And learn more about Accion Venture Lab on LinkedIn and X (Twitter). 

In this episode of Fintech for the People, Amee Parbhoo, Managing Partner at Accion Venture Lab, sets the stage for a deep dive into four key areas where AI can empower fintech companies to expand the reach and effectiveness of financial services to underserved populations: compliance, credit decisioning, customer engagement, and workflow optimization.  Starting with compliance, Amee discusses how AI streamlines customer screening and KYC compliance for thin-file or no-file customers with Ashok Hariharan, CEO of IDfy. Next Amee interviews Benjamin Njenga, Co-founder and Chief Customer Officer of Apollo Agriculture, who shares the insights on implementing AI in credit decisioning and underwriting for smallholder farmers in Africa. Later, Ananth Gudipati, Founder of Sukhiba, joins to discuss AI's role in customer engagement, particularly using conversational commerce for small retailers and wholesalers in Africa. Lastly, Amee Parbhoo talks to Nicolas Yepes, Co-founder and COO of Moffin, offers perspectives on using AI to optimize backend workflows for financial institutions.  00:00 – 13:40 – Ashok Hariharan, CEO of IDfy13:40 – 24:30 - Benjamin Njenga, Co-founder and Chief Customer Officer of Apollo Agriculture24:30 – 36:40 Ananth Gudipati, Founder of Sukhiba36:42 – 44:25 Nicolas Yepes, Co-founder and COO of MoffinTo learn more about IDfy, Apollo, Sukhiba, Moffin, please check their websites. And learn more about Accion Venture Lab on LinkedIn and X (Twitter). 

In this episode of Fintech for the People, host Amee Parbhoo, Managing Partner at Accion Venture Lab, speaks to Jimena Pardo and Federico Antoni from Hi Ventures about the transformative role of AI in fintech. They explore the potential for AI to revolutionize financial services by streamlining operations for fintech companies, improving credit scoring, detecting fraud, and fostering financial inclusion.   Jimena and Federico share insights into their commitment to ethical AI implementation and the importance of minimizing biases in fintech solutions. They discuss Hi Ventures' dedication to empowering startups and driving positive change in the financial sector.  To learn more about Hi Ventures, visit their website. Learn more about Accion Venture Lab here and follow us on LinkedIn and X (Twitter). 

Supriya Paul, the co-founder and CEO of Josh Talks, joins host Rahil Rangwala in this episode of Accion Venture Lab’s Fintech for the People podcast to talk about online education for the future workforce in India and opens job opportunities for India’s youth. They also chat through the company’s growth that Supriya built over the last few years and its impact on the youth in India, especially when it comes to their career, financial literacy, and earning potential. Supriya shared her experience growing up expecting to become an accountant, and instead diverting from the expected path and forging a new one with an online English learning app that boasts an average of 52 minutes of engagement per day with its 15,000 paid users, and 37 percent of users completing the 90-day course. She speaks about the impact that Josh Talks has had not only on her own life, but on countless of others’ as well. To learn more about Josh Talks, visit their website. And learn more about Accion Venture Lab here.

Advance is a digital lending platform founded by CEO Jaime de los Angeles to help low and middle-income workers bridge their cashflow needs and manage unexpected expenses throughaccess to salary advances. His focus on the Philippines and Vietnam has brought financial freedom and credit to previously underserved markets, where they are now seeing as much as 50percent of users reporting increases in savings, health, and overall satisfaction.  In this episode, Jaime and the host Rahil Rangwala, Managing Partner of Accion Venture Lab, talk about Jaime’s experience growing Advance over the last four years and unpack the importance of nurturing the middle customer relationship in a B2B2C business model.  To learn more about Advance, visit their website. And learn more about Accion Venture Lab here.

The rise of digital platforms and apps that offer on-demand services, like ridesharing and deliveries, has created a new labor market referred to as the “gig economy.” Because of the temporary nature of their work, gig workers often face financial instability and limited access to financial services. In this episode of Accion Venture Lab’s podcast, host Rahil Rangwala hears from Flourish Ventures’ Director of Strategy and Insights Stella Klemperer about the growing gig economy and how digitization presents new opportunities and challenges in the fintech space.In this conversation, Stella Klemperer shares her experience and knowledge on embedded finance for gig workers, growing government involvement in the fintech space, and the revolution of the gig economy. To learn more about Flourish Ventures, visit their website. And learn more about Accion Venture Lab here.

Global shifts like digitization are driving economic and societal change, including the way that people find and do their jobs. More and more people are using jobtech, digital platforms that connect people to employment opportunities, to earn a living. In this episode of Accion Venture Lab’s Fintech for the People, host Rahil Rangwala sits down with Chris Maclay, Program Director at the Jobtech Alliance of MercyCorps, to talk about how MercyCorps is merging fintech with innovation in the job market, especially in Africa. Listen to this in-depth talk about the role that technology continues to play in employment and the future of work, the beginnings of the Jobtech Alliance, and what an ever-shifting job market means for workers. To learn more about the Jobtech Alliance, visit their website. And learn more about Accion Venture Lab here.

Rapid digitalization, climate change, economic instability, AI and automation, and other trends have shifted how people around the world live and work. For low-income and underserved people, these shifts have created new work opportunities, like gig work, and new risks and challenges, like the need to learn new digital skills. In this season of Accion Venture Lab’s Fintech for the People podcast, we’re exploring the role of fintech in the changing future of work. In the first episode of the season, host Rahil Rangwala interviews Sophie Sirtaine, CEO of CGAP, a global partnership of leading development organizations working to advance the lives of people living in poverty — especially women — through financial inclusion.. They discuss the intersection of fintech and the future of work, particularly for blue and gray collar workers, like gig workers. Sophie shares CGAP's mission to make financial services accessible to the world's most vulnerable communities. The episode explores the importance of building responsible and inclusive financial ecosystems for a green, resilient, and equitable future. Tune in to learn more about the importance of inclusive financial solutions as global shifts change the nature of work, especially for low-income and underserved populations.To learn more about Accion Venture Lab, visit our website.

This season, we’ll dive into one of the hottest topics investors and entrepreneurs are discussing: The intersection of the future of work and fintech. Global shifts and trends — like rapid digitalization, climate change, migration, and generative AI — are changing the way that people around the world live and work. Host Rahil Rangwala, Managing Partner of Accion Venture Lab, will speak with five industry experts, ranging from entrepreneurs to investors to stakeholders in the ecosystem, who are playing a critical role in shaping this transition. We are excited to navigate this complex topic of the future of work with you this season and aim to share what future work means and how it is affecting the lives of a vast emerging workforce that is often overlooked. Learn more about Accion Venture Lab here and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

After seeing the need for climate solutions in Africa, Lyndsay Holley Handler decided to commit to building a company that would deliver clean, affordable energy and financial services to hard-to-reach communities. Amee Parbhoo speaks with Lyndsay, Co-founder and Managing Partner of Delta40 Studio, an early-stage investor and venture builder in energy, agriculture, and mobility sectors that are increasing incomes and tackling climate change in Africa.Lyndsay shares how Factor[e] and Delta40 Studio are investing in climate solutions that immediately impact income and resilience in Africa, can mitigate climate change, and are delivered with scalable business models. Amee and Lyndsay also discuss the power of partnerships with corporate partners and how getting to the root of problems unlocks economic development, carbon mitigation, and climate resilience. To learn more about Accion Venture Lab, visit our website and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

The agriculture sector may be a big contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, but it’s also the most affected by climate change. Climate change and a lack of access to technological innovations harm rural agricultural communities. To find out how to address this, host Amee Parbhoo talks with Abhishek Gupta, co-founder of Semaai, to learn how Semaai is building agritech solutions in Indonesia to help farmers and rural shops maximize their earning potential and reduce their emissions footprint. Semaai is a farmer-first company building full-stack agritech solutions that provide innovative financial services to farmers and rural MSMEs. Amee and Abhishek discuss the challenges rural communities and small farmers face in Indonesia, how agritech addresses issues like the overuse of chemicals when crop yields fall, and how the Semaai platform empowers farmers and small mom-and-pop shops to grow their businesses. To learn more about Accion Venture Lab, visit our website and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Overfishing poses a big threat to the health of oceans, marine life, and communities everywhere. But the aquaculture industry presents more responsible opportunities to harvest more eco-friendly proteins. Now, through innovative digital and financial solutions, smallholder aquaculture farmers in India can dramatically improve their yields while protecting our oceans and marine life. Host Amee Parbhoo, Managing Partner of Accion Venture Lab, talks with Pavan Kosaraju, CEO and co-founder of AquaExchange, about how AquaExchange's solutions empower farmers to reduce production costs and sustainably farm seafood. AquaExchange is revolutionizing the aquaculture industry in India by providing full-stack digital and proprietary farm management solutions and financial services to aquaculture farmers in India. Pavan and Amee discuss how tech-based solutions can decrease the environmental impact of aquaculture farms, the challenges faced by small-scale shrimp and fish farmers, the effects of overfishing on farming communities, and the shift towards inland aquaculture. To learn more about Accion Venture Lab, visit our website and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

For the venture space to build climate resilience among vulnerable populations, we need to mobilize more capital, talent, and innovative technology to support locally led solutions that address climate change in regions most affected. To explore this, host Amee Parbhoo talks with Maelis Carraro, Managing Partner at Catalyst Fund, about how we can build climate resilience, prepare for future risks, and build long-term opportunities in a new climate environment.Catalyst Fund is a pre-seed fund and accelerator focused on inclusive tech solutions in emerging markets. Maelis shares how Catalyst Fund's new Climate Resilience Fund invests in companies that offer climate-smart financial services, climate-resilient agriculture innovations, and sustainable mobility solutions. Amee and Maelis also discuss how startups can address their customers' climate vulnerabilities, strategically map opportunities in the value chain, and explore the carbon finance world.To learn more about Accion Venture Lab, visit our website and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

As the world grapples with the devastating impacts of climate change, financial institutions have the power to reduce vulnerability and build resilience by making financial services more accessible to vulnerable populations. In this episode, host Amee Parbhoo sits down with Howard Miller, the Director, Climate at the Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI), to discuss how financial inclusion strategies enable people to manage climate-related risks. CFI, an independent global think tank within Accion, recently released The Green Inclusive Finance Report. Howard shares findings from the report and explains how financial services use various impact pathways to help low-income and vulnerable populations with the mitigation, resilience, adaptation, and transition that come with responding to climate change. Howard and Amee also discuss how to incorporate climate risk into financial inclusion strategies, innovations that improve the design of climate-related financial products, and the need for financial institutions to develop new models that consider climate-related risks.To learn more about Accion Venture Lab, visit our website and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

As climate change-related events increase in frequency, unpredictability, and severity, low-income and vulnerable populations are the most affected. In our fifth season, we’ll explore climate fintech, a new and exciting area of fintech that aims to address climate change. We will speak to startup founders, investors, and other ecosystem players to understand how we can  help individuals and small businesses manage the climate risks they face and work together to build a more sustainable future. Listen in every Thursday as we bring more awareness to the intersection of climate and fintech and its enormous potential to create a more sustainable future.To learn more about Accion Venture Lab, visit our website and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Fintech is no longer just about expanding access to financial services; it’s also about increasing their quality. In this episode, Accion Venture Lab’s Amee Parbhoo sits down with TS Anil, Global CEO of Monzo Bank, to discuss his principles of building a sustainable and growth-oriented business, and what he sees for the future of inclusive fintech.TS shares his personal and professional journey, and how he managed a company through the pandemic. During the conversation, TS also shares some practical advice for CEOs and founders on leading in uncertain times. To learn more about Accion Venture Lab, visit our website and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.