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Twelve Startups Selected for Village Capital’s FinHealth US 2021 Accelerator

All startups will split a pool of grant capital of $100K

Washington, DC (November 16th, 2021) — Village Capital, with support from Freddie Mac, PayPal and TIAA, announced that 12 startups were selected to take part in 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.

The open call had a focus on startup innovations that build on the financial health and economic opportunity of everyday people and small business owners in the US including startups addressing key wealth inequities and the racial wealth gap.

“The COVID-19 pandemic shed light not just on the challenges facing our health systems, but also on the financial health challenges of millions of everyday people and small businesses,” said Bryson Hearne, Manager for Village Capital. “I am encouraged and excited that founders like these are stepping up with real solutions to big problems in financial health. Each company brings a unique perspective and will help our nation take strides towards improving the financial health of underserved communities.”

More than 60 entrepreneurs from 22 states applied to be a part of the accelerator. The final cohort is composed of the top 12 companies, 58% of the cohort is headquartered outside of US tech hubs (NY, CA, MA) and 50% have a BIPOC founder and CEO. These companies are creating solutions around homeownership, wealth creation, paying down debt, and small business financial management and lending, among others.

From November 2021 to February 2022, selected startups will participate in virtual and in person workshops on improving investment-readiness. Each company will have the opportunity to work closely with industry experts, investors, and ecosystem partners to develop the networks they need to scale their impact. The top two peer-selected companies will receive $25K each in grant funding.

All startups in the program will be invited to join Abaca, Village Capital’s global online network that helps entrepreneurs analyze and structure their businesses for investment. The network also matches them with the right investors and resources.

Here are the 12 startups working to expand economic opportunity in the US:

  • Challenger (Denver, CO) powers employer-sponsored financial products for America's workforce, starting with emergency savings.
  • Cher (Santa Monica, CA) operates a real estate marketplace helping first time homebuyers save time and money co-owning homes together, whether that be living together or investing together.
  • College Cash (Fort Worth, TX) uses everyday behavior to reduce student loan debt in key ways.
  • Crowd Capital (Miami, FL) redefines second chances for home ownership by offering families at risk of foreclosure an opportunity to keep their homes and regain their financial stability while creating a socially responsible investment opportunity for investors.
  • Frizzmo (Novi, MI) offers the easiest way to raise classroom funds and teach children financial literacy skills.
  • Let’s Get Set (San Francisco, CA) democratizes access to wealth-building for low-income Americans via its mobile-first app that helps parents secure and deploy tax credits ($12B of which they miss each year).
  • LoanSense (Ypsilanti, MI) helps student loan borrowers reduce their monthly student loan payments and increase their home buying power by an average of $98,000.
  • NuMarket (Newton, MA) operates a crowdfunding platform that allows vibrant and diverse independent businesses to get funding from their customers now in exchange for credits to redeem later.
  • OneEleven (New York City, NY) empowers people to live happier lives by reducing money stress and building healthy habits throughout their financial wellness app.
  • PocketCFO (Los Altos, CA) operates a SaaS-based financial intelligence platform that builds financial literacy and provides business owners real-time data to make informed business decisions.
  • Repaytient (Louisville, KY) increases hospital cash flow by up to 30% and reduces collections overhead by up to 15% by offering interest free payment plans to patients to pay their ever increasing out of pocket healthcare expenses and get the care they need when they need it without having to make sacrifices to their health due to cost.
  • Small Change (Pittsburgh, PA) operates a real estate crowdfunding platform, where everyone can build wealth and invest in the projects, developers, and cities they love, for as little as $200.

For more information, reach out to Sofía Cándano at Village Capital (sofia.candano@vilcap.com).

About Village Capital

Village Capital helps entrepreneurs bring big ideas from vision to scale. Our mission is to reinvent the system to back the entrepreneurs of the future. Our vision is a future where business creates equity and long-term prosperity. 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 110 program graduates.

About Freddie Mac

Freddie Mac makes home possible for millions of families and individuals by providing mortgage capital to lenders. Since our creation by Congress in 1970, we’ve made housing more accessible and affordable for homebuyers and renters in communities nationwide. We are building a better housing finance system for homebuyers, renters, lenders and taxpayers.

About PayPal

PayPal has remained at the forefront of the digital payment revolution for more than 20 years. By leveraging technology to make financial services and commerce more convenient, affordable, and secure, the PayPal platform is empowering more than 400 million consumers and merchants in more than 200 markets to join and thrive in the global economy. For more information, visit paypal.com.

About TIAA

TIAA is a leading provider of secure retirements and outcome-focused investment solutions to millions of people and thousands of institutions. It is the #1 not-for-profit retirement market provider1, paid more than $3.6 billion to retired clients in 2020 and has $1.3 trillion in assets under management (as of 9/30/2021)2.

1 Based on data from 56 providers in PLANSPONSOR magazine’s 2019 DC Recordkeeping Survey, combined 457, 403(b) and money purchase plan data as of December 31, 2018.

2 Based on approximately $1.3 trillion of assets under management across Nuveen affiliates and TIAA investment management teams as of 9/30/2021.