Accion Ventures

Accion Ventures is a global venture capital firm dedicated to investing in early-stage fintech startups that aim to provide affordable and high-quality financial services to underserved populations globally. As part of Accion Impact Management, the firm focuses on companies that leverage technology to enhance financial inclusion, particularly in emerging markets. Accion Ventures has deployed capital into over 70 startups across more than 30 countries, with a portfolio that includes companies like PaidHR in Nigeria, Foyer in the United States, FinFra in Indonesia, and Flowcart in Kenya. The firm seeks innovative tech companies that promote financial inclusion around the globe and have the potential to generate attractive returns. Bringing a deep understanding of local customers and markets, combined with global learnings, the team behind Accion Ventures supports investments across Africa, South and Southeast Asia, Latin America, and the United States. Accion Ventures aims to find and help scale companies at the forefront of the latest trends in fintech, delivering financial solutions leveraging embedded finance, alternative data, and more. Since the investment strategy was established in 2012, $59.4 million has been deployed in 76 companies across more than 30 countries, with 13 full or partial exits across all geographies. The three most recent exits were Apollo Agriculture, a company providing tech-enabled inputs, financing, insurance, and training to smallholder farmers in Kenya and Zambia; Lula, an all-digital small business lender and bank account provider for small and medium enterprises in South Africa; and Pula, a company providing agricultural insurtech solutions to smallholder farmers across Africa and Asia. Beyond deploying capital, Accion Ventures provides hands-on support to startups across the critical areas of a fintech lifecycle, which may include access to market expertise, board governance, networking to open doors in typically limited debt and equity funding environments, and strategic and operational guidance from a dedicated Portfolio Engagement team, drawn from expertise as international investors and operators of tech companies.

For-profit enterprises with new products or business models that expand the range of high-quality financial services for underserved populations, Post-research and development stage with a full-time entrepreneur or team in place, Ideally have a pilot or prototype in the market, Focus on opportunities in Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East and North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and the U.S., but will invest globally if the team and idea are right