Washington, DC and New York, NY (January 21, 2020) — Village Capital today announced that Xendoo and Worthy Financial were peer-selected for funding during Finance Forward US 2019, an accelerator program that is a part of Finance Forward. A multi-year global coalition led by founding partners MetLife Foundation and PayPal, Finance Forward is supporting entrepreneurs on four continents who are building tech-enabled solutions to challenges around financial health.
Each startup will receive $75K in grant funding from MetLife Foundation to help them grow and scale their businesses. The two companies are focused on the following:
“Both Xendoo and Worthy Financial are democratizing access to financial services for small business owners and everyday consumers,” said Allie Burns, CEO, Village Capital. “Xendoo is making accounting services available for a new generation of business owners, and Worthy Financial is helping people grow a nest egg while supporting Main Street instead of Wall Street. Along with the rest of the cohort, these two companies are developing creative, outside-the-box solutions to improve financial health in the United States.”
“By bringing together an emerging group of fintechs through the Finance Forward coalition, we are able to elevate organizations that are at the forefront of financial health in the United States,” said Sarah Willis, Director, Financial Health at MetLife Foundation. “We congratulate Xendoo and Worthy Financial for developing powerful new business models that help ensure lower-income people and small businesses benefit from the financial sector.”
“As a company driven by technology and committed to the democratization of financial services for both people and small businesses around the world, PayPal is a proud ally of Village Capital and its Finance Forward initiative,” said Julie Vennewitz-Pierce, Director at PayPal. “We hope this global effort for financial health ignites action and positive change in the United States.”
Xendoo and Worthy Financial were selected by a group of peer entrepreneurs on the final day of Finance Forward US 2019, a two-month accelerator program managed by Village Capital in collaboration with MetLife Foundation and PayPal. The eleven entrepreneurs in the program evaluated each other through an investor lens and Xendoo and Worthy Financial were ranked “most investment ready”.
Diversity is a core value for Village Capital and the Finance Forward initiative: Village Capital believes that “a diversity of backgrounds leads to a diversity of ideas, and diversity of ideas leads to a diversity of solutions.” This cohort was far more diverse than the average make-up of venture capital investments in the United States:
The full list of companies in the Finance Forward US 2019 cohort included:
For more information, reach out to Rustin Finkler at Village Capital (rustin.finkler@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, including 8 early-stage US fintech companies like Vault, Fig Loans, and Finix.
About MetLife Foundation
At MetLife Foundation, we believe financial health belongs to everyone. We bring together bold solutions, deep financial expertise and meaningful grants to build financial health for people and communities that are underserved and aspire for more. We partner with organizations around the world to create financial health solutions and build stronger communities, engaging MetLife employee volunteers to help drive impact. MetLife Foundation was created in 1976 to continue MetLife’s long tradition of corporate contributions and community involvement. Since its founding through the end of 2018, MetLife Foundation provided $822 million in grants and $85 million in program-related investments to make a positive impact in the communities where MetLife operates. To date, our financial health work has reached 9.9 million low-income individuals in 42 countries. To learn more about MetLife Foundation, visit metlife.org.
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 295 million consumers and merchants in more than 200 markets to join and thrive in the global economy. For more information, visit paypal.com.
