Washington, DC (February 9, 2022) —Village Capital announced today that Chari and Finerio Connect will be the next investments from its Financial Health Innovation Fund, an early-stage investment vehicle funded by MetLife Foundation.
Chari (Morocco) empowers small shops in Morocco by offering same-day access to essential consumer products, and a robust suite of financial services for both small shops and their customers. Chari is leveraging technology to digitize the procurement process for these shops and to create greater access to financial products for underbanked Moroccans.
Finerio Connect (Mexico) leverages open banking and personal finance APIs to help financial institutions process data into useful insights so they can empower their clients’ financial wellbeing.
“MetLife Foundation is committed to helping underserved communities get access to more inclusive financial resources, which is key to creating a more equitable world,” said Tia Hodges, President of MetLife Foundation. “Chari and Finerio Connect are exciting examples of how innovative financial solutions can empower vulnerable people and businesses to become more resilient and prepared for the future.”
‘We are thrilled to start working with Village Capital and MetLife Foundation. Having them in our cap table reinforces our mission to help local shop owners get access to better services,” said Ismael Belkhayat, Founder and CEO of Chari. “We are proud to be a startup with impact, helping traditional proximity stores compete with the modern trade. We are here to help them get their procurement at the best price and benefit from payment facilities.”
“Having been part of the MetLife-supported Finance Forward Latam 2020 accelerator program, we look forward to continuing our work alongside Village Capital and MetLife Foundation through the Financial Health Innovation Fund,” said Nick Grassi, Co-founder of Finerio Connect. “We are developing the financial infrastructure and laying the foundation for financial health products in Latin America through our open banking tools and personal financial management APIs.”
The Financial Health Innovation Fund is part of Village Capital’s Family of Funds, announced in early 2020 — a series of funds and impact investing activities focused on investing in early stage, impact-driven startups through a variety of mechanisms, including revenue share and convertible debt.
“Our Financial Health Innovation Fund with MetLife Foundation is helping provide needed investment into some of the most promising financial health startups in the world,” said Allie Burns, Village Capital CEO. “Chari and Finerio Connect are tackling different challenges within financial health -- the former focused on providing a robust suite of services to end users and the latter building a critical piece of the financial service infrastructure-- all of which is necessary to increase financial resilience globally.
For more information, reach out to Ben Wrobel at Village Capital (ben.wrobel@vilcap.com) or Rachel Pokay at MetLife (rpokay@metlife.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 100 program graduates, including 8 early-stage US fintech companies like Vault, Fig Loans, and Finix.
About MetLife Foundation
At MetLife Foundation, we are committed to expanding opportunities for low- and moderate-income people around the world. We partner with nonprofit organizations and social enterprises to create financial health solutions and build stronger communities, while engaging MetLife employee volunteers to help drive impact. Our financial health work has reached more than 17.3 million low- and moderate-income individuals in 42 countries. Learn more at MetLife Foundation.
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