PayPal has joined forces with insurance giant MetLife and VC Village Capital to launch an initiative supporting more than 100 early-stage entrepreneurs around the world building tech-based financial health products and services.
The three will work with local partners in the US, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and India on the Finance Forward coalition.
Finance Forward will run nine regional accelerator programmes and bootcamps over the next two years, helping entrepreneurs building solutions to improve the financial health of low and medium-income people and small business owners.
Participants will get between $25,000 and $75,000 in capital as well as one on one mentorship and other capacity-building support. In total, Finance Forward aims to improve the financial health of 700,000 low-income people and 10,000 micro and small businesses owners.
Allie Burns, CEO, Village Capital, says: "We’ve seen real progress on financial inclusion in the past few years, thanks in large part to mobile phones, a changing regulatory environment, and a new generation of companies creating true technology innovation in fintech.
"But simply being included is only the start; now that people are in the system, we need to make sure they can actually use the system to build their financial health: the ability to manage your income, get a loan when you need it, and plan for your financial future."