December 2023
Five years on, the IBM Hyper Protect Accelerator has supported nearly 200 impact-creating startups, giving us a front-row seat into crucial insights and solutions transforming critical sectors such as healthcare, education, banking, and others.
Low-income communities, defined in this report as those in the United States who make less than 200% of the federal poverty line, are a substantial part of our society and represent 27.5% of adults. Yet people in these communities so often struggle to take substantial steps forward economically due to inequitable systems.
With a problem as big as this, there are many levers that must be pulled, including government interactions, nonprofit support, and activity from large corporations. Though these levers will continue to be important, there is one lever in particular that is often overlooked and has the potential for outsized impact: for-profit innovations aiming to promote the economic growth and mobility of this population.
EMO Innovators, or those who are building technological solutions that help advance economic opportunities for low-income communities, are stepping up to address the challenge.
EMO innovators are critical for driving economic inflection points. To amplify impact,
additional support is needed. This report will explore where the ecosystem can help.
