Accion today announces the final close of a $61.6 million fund that will invest in early-stage fintech companies meeting the needs of financially underserved people globally. Accion Venture Lab Fund II, LP builds on a decade-long investment strategy focused on delivering social and financial objectives through early-stage venture capital investments.
The Fund closed with commitments from both existing and new investors, including commercial and impact asset managers, development finance institutions, foundations, family offices, and strategic financial service companies. Limited Partners in the fund include the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank FMO, Proparco, ImpactAssets, Ford Foundation, MetLife Asset Management, Mastercard Worldwide. The most recent initial investments by the new fund are PaidHR in Nigeria, Foyer in the United States, FinFra in Indonesia, and Flowcart in Kenya.
With the launch of the new fund, Accion Impact Management’s early-stage fintech strategy has rebranded from Accion Venture Lab to Accion Ventures. Accion Ventures finds innovative tech companies that promote financial inclusion around the globe and have the potential to generate attractive returns. Bringing a deep understanding of local customers and markets, combined with global learnings, the team behind Accion Ventures supports investments across Africa, South and Southeast Asia, Latin America, and the United States.
According to the Global Findex 2025, worldwide, 1.6 billion people do not have an account with a financial institution or have an inactive account, and the $5.7 trillion annual financing gap for micro, small, and medium-sized businesses represents a huge market opportunity for innovative startups ready to disrupt the traditional financial system. Accion Ventures finds and helps scale companies at the forefront of the latest trends in fintech, delivering financial solutions leveraging embedded finance, alternative data, Generative AI (Gen AI), and more.
Since the investment strategy was established in 2012, Accion Ventures has deployed $59.4 million in 76 companies across 39 countries and had 13 exits across all geographies. The three most recent exits were Apollo Agriculture, a company providing tech-enabled inputs, financing, insurance, and training to smallholder farmers in Kenya and Zambia; Lula, an all digital small business lender and bank account provider for small and medium enterprises in South Africa; and Pula, a company providing agricultural insurtech solutions to smallholder farmers across Africa and Asia.
Beyond deploying capital, Accion Ventures provides hands-on support to startups across the critical areas of a fintech lifecycle, including access to market expertise, board governance, networking to open doors in typically limited debt and equity funding environments, and strategic and operational guidance from a dedicated Portfolio Engagement team, drawn from expertise as international investors and operators of tech companies.
Michael Schlein, President and CEO of Accion said: “With the huge uptick in mobile technologies in emerging economies, we see a significant opportunity to connect many small businesses and low-income consumers to the digital economy for the first time. Leveraging third-party capital to deliver social and financial objectives is a critical part of Accion’s strategy. This fund seeks to support the growth of early-stage, disruptive companies providing high-quality, affordable financial services that can help reduce poverty and create opportunity for millions of people globally.”
Rahil Rangwala, Managing Partner, Accion Ventures, said: “We are excited to support the growth of incredible innovators across the globe in early-stage fintech who are using new technology ranging from Gen AI to satellite imagery and embedded finance, leveraging the power of mobile phones and the internet to deliver sustainable financial returns, alongside real world impact for underserved people globally. We have a strong pipeline and team in place and will continue to leverage our networks to deliver quality, affordable financial services for small businesses and consumers globally.”
Amee Parbhoo, Managing Partner, Accion Ventures, said: “With this new funding, we will build on our success to date, finding and scaling some of the world’s most innovative fintech companies that provide a full suite of financial products and services to small businesses globally. Our global portfolio and local approach mean we can spot and respond to trends faster, driving local innovations on a global scale, and share learnings across geographies. We aim to be one of the first institutional checks a company receives and will continue to engage early, while maintaining sufficient reserves to back our winners as they scale.”
Read the orginal article: https://ffnews.com/newsarticle/funding/accion-announces-close-of-61-6m-second-accion-venture-lab-fund-investing-in-early-stage-inclusive-fintech/
