Introducing the Inaugural Last Mile Money Accelerator
8 startups connecting underserved communities to the digital economy
We’re excited to announce our first ever Last Mile Money Accelerator, a 4-month program managed by IDEO & funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to supercharge inclusive FinTech startups with grant capital, world class design support from IDEO & IDEO.org, and connections to key strategic ecosystem partners.
Our thesis at a glance
COVID-19 and its accompanying lockdowns are underscoring that digital connectivity is now a necessity. Phones are increasingly the gateway to essential services, including financial services like mobile banking, e-payments, government cash transfers, and remittances. As the uptake of digital financial services accelerates, the risks of exclusion are growing for those without access to the digital economy.
In order to connect rural, low income communities to the digital economy, our focus is increasing the reach and quality of cash-in/cash-out (CICO) locations where people can convert cash to digital money and vice versa. In emerging markets around the world, there are millions of mobile money and banking “agents” who help their communities access the digital economy every day at these CICO locations. Whether it’s by helping convert money between digital currencies and cash or assisting with online purchases, these agents serve as financial services access points, onboarding billions of people who are left behind by the formal financial sector.
“Cash-in cash-out agents play a critical role in bringing the promise of the digital economy closer to those who need it the most, yet the current models we see today often fall short of delivering on that promise, especially to those in rural areas in emerging markets. There’s a clear need for more innovation in this space, and that’s why we’re excited to support this cohort of world-class entrepreneurs operating across more than ten countries.” — Dave Kim, Program Officer, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
After evaluating 250 applications, we’re excited to announce 8 startups joining the Last Mile Money Accelerator:
Mool solves the design and distribution challenges that keep most Indians from earning more on their savings. Mool’s multilingual approach offers mass reach with simplified access to savings and wealth management products for the underserved.
As part of the accelerator, Last Mile Money is partnering with Mool to run a pilot leveraging existing dairy retail networks in Jharkhand to help retailers and farmers create accounts.
PesaKit is a last mile agent network platform that is accelerating digital commerce and financial inclusion. The vision is to become a super-platform providing inclusive, interoperable, last mile digital and financial services for mobile money agents and merchants across Africa
As part of the accelerator, Last Mile Money is partnering with Pesakit to launch a new e-commerce product that makes mobile money agents delivery points for rural customers.
Kuunda is a B2B fintech company that has built growth APIs & a liquidity platform for micro-merchants and agent networks to solve liquidity challenges, including e-float overdraft and working capital loans.
As part of the accelerator, Last Mile Money is partnering with Kuunda to launch liquidity solutions for merchants in Pakistan.
Khazna, Egypt’s leading financial super app, provides underbanked Egyptians with a free prepaid debit card, earned wage access, buy-now-pay-later, bill payment and peer transfers all in-app, thereby significantly minimizing cash transactions.
As part of the accelerator, Last Mile Money is partnering with Khazna to explore integrations with the Egyptian government’s Takaful and Karama “Solidarity and Dignity” program, which provides monthly cash transfers to 3+Million unbanked beneficiaries (a majority of whom are women in rural areas).
Alsoug.com, Sudan’s largest classifieds platform, is launching a new fintech platform, Cashi, to support financial inclusion in Sudan. Cashi will enable ease of financial transaction to consumers across Sudan, whilst providing new income streams for small and medium sized merchants and boosting revenue for major billers.
As part of the accelerator, Last Mile Money is partnering with Alsoug to design and launch Cashi, a digital payments solution for Sudan, enabling digital commerce transactions and payments between merchants and their customers.
Boost exists to give every informal retail entrepreneur the power to grow. Starting with mobile stock ordering and working capital, Boost makes it easy for informal retailers to get and sell more of what their customers want, when and where they want it, at great prices.
As part of the accelerator, Last Mile Money is partnering with Boost in Ghana to set delivery riders up as Cash-In/Cash-Out agents for small and medium neighborhood grocery store owners, greatly increasing access to digital payments and financial services.
DuniaPay is a banking app powered by crypto that allows users in Sub-Saharan Africa to save, spend, invest and transfer money to any phone number anywhere in the world
As part of the accelerator, Last Mile Money will partner with DuniaPay to build a decentralized agent network app, allowing users to conveniently cash in and cash out and access digital financial services with regular mobile money agents.
Tanda is a fintech company building an ecosystem to enable people to digitally send, receive money and access essential financial services.
As part of the accelerator, Last Mile Money will partner with Tanda to pilot a peer-to-peer float marketplace where merchants can request or sell cash on demand.
This Last Mile Money Accelerator team includes Hayden Simmons, Shalu Umapathy, Becca Carrol, John Won, Tolu Odusanya, Kanika Kumar, Garima Dahiya, and Jason Fund. For further inquiries, please contact LastMileMoney@ideo.com.
