Fintech for the People

Fintech for the People Season 9, Episode 1 featuring Monica Brand Engel, Managing Partner at Quona Capital Quona Capital Managing Partner Monica Brand Engel has spent more than a decade investing in financial inclusion across emerging markets. She joins this season's host, Accion Ventures Managing Partner Rahil Rangwala, to talk about a shift underway in fintech: the move from building individual...

Introducing Fintech for the People Season 9, featuring Rahil Rangwala, Managing Partner at Accion Ventures Rahil Rangwala, Managing Partner of Accion Ventures, kicks off a new season of Fintech for the People . In this introductory episode, Rahil sets the stage for a deep dive into the invisible backbone of modern finance: infrastructure. He explains why Accion Ventures believes that inclusion and...

Fintech for the People Season 8, Episode 5 featuring Sheryar Bawany, Co-founder and CEO of Trukkr   Amee Parbhoo, Managing Partner of Accion Ventures, welcomes Trukkr’s Co-founder and CEO, Sheryar Bawany, to the podcast this week for an in- depth discussion of Pakistan's $35 billion road freight market, an industry critical to the economy yet held back by manual processes and financial instab...

Cultivating Prosperity: Verqor Aims to Revolutionize Agricultural Finance in Mexico   Fintech for the People Season 8, Episode 4 featuring Valentina Rogacheva, Co-founder of Verqor  Amee Parbhoo, Managing Partner of Accion Ventures, sits down with Valentina Rogacheva, Co-founder of Verqor, to explore the ways her company is tackling the significant gap in financial services for Mexico’s...

Fintech for the People Season 8, Episode 3 featuring Neal Thakker, Founder and CEO of Magma   Neal Thakker, Founder and CEO of Magma, joins Amee Parbhoo, Managing Partner of Accion Ventures, on the podcast this week for an exploration of  the massive opportunity that exists to modernize India's current manufacturing sector. Against the backdrop of a global supply chain shift, Neal explains ho...

Fintech for the People  Season 8, Episode 2 featuring Fernando Olloqui, Founder of Licify In this episode of  Fintech for the People , guest Fernando Olloqui, founder of Licify, dives into the massive yet deeply inefficient construction industry. He shares his firsthand experience with the financial challenges faced by subcontractors, a journey that led him from the brink of panic over u...

Today’s episode of Fintech for the People marks an exciting new chapter, as hosts Amee Parbhoo and Rahil Rangwala, Managing Partners of the newly rebranded Accion Ventures, announce the successful close of a new $61.6 million fund . They also introduce the season's central theme: a deep dive into how verticalized embedded finance is dramatically increasing access to crucial financial services for...

This episode of Fintech for the People is focused on the critical research around risks and bias in AI, explaining the importance of equitable AI and its impact on the financial ecosystem. Our guest, Alexandra Rizzi, Senior Research Director at the Center for Financial Inclusion, shares insights about various challenges, including bias and contextual differences, emphasizing the need for inclusive...

In this episode of Fintech for the People, Amee Parbhoo, Managing Partner at Accion Venture Lab, sets the stage for a deep dive into four key areas where AI can empower fintech companies to expand the reach and effectiveness of financial services to underserved populations: compliance, credit decisioning, customer engagement, and workflow optimization.    Starting with compliance, Amee discusses h...

In this episode of Fintech for the People, host Amee Parbhoo, Managing Partner at Accion Venture Lab, speaks to Jimena Pardo and Federico Antoni from Hi Ventures about the transformative role of AI in fintech. They explore the potential for AI to revolutionize financial services by streamlining operations for fintech companies, improving credit scoring, detecting fraud, and fostering financial inc...

Supriya Paul , the co-founder and CEO of Josh Talks, joins host Rahil Rangwala in this episode of Accion Venture Lab’s Fintech for the People podcast to talk about online education for the future workforce in India and opens job opportunities for India’s youth. They also chat through the company’s growth that Supriya built over the last few years and its impact on the youth in India, especially wh...

Advance is a digital lending platform founded by CEO Jaime de los Angeles to help low and middle-income workers bridge their cashflow needs and manage unexpected expenses throughaccess to salary advances. His focus on the Philippines and Vietnam has brought financial freedom and credit to previously underserved markets, where they are now seeing as much as 50percent of users reporting increases in...

The rise of digital platforms and apps that offer on-demand services, like ridesharing and deliveries, has created a new labor market referred to as the “gig economy.” Because of the temporary nature of their work, gig workers often face financial instability and limited access to financial services. In this episode of Accion Venture Lab’s podcast, host Rahil Rangwala hears from Flourish Ventures’...

Global shifts like digitization are driving economic and societal change, including the way that people find and do their jobs. More and more people are using jobtech, digital platforms that connect people to employment opportunities, to earn a living. In this episode of Accion Venture Lab’s Fintech for the People, host Rahil Rangwala sits down with Chris Maclay , Program Director at the Jobtech A...

Rapid digitalization, climate change, economic instability, AI and automation, and other trends have shifted how people around the world live and work. For low-income and underserved people, these shifts have created new work opportunities, like gig work, and new risks and challenges, like the need to learn new digital skills. In this season of Accion Venture Lab’s Fintech for the People podcast,...

This season, we’ll dive into one of the hottest topics investors and entrepreneurs are discussing: The intersection of the future of work and fintech. Global shifts and trends — like rapid digitalization, climate change, migration, and generative AI — are changing the way that people around the world live and work.   Host Rahil Rangwal a, Managing Partner of Accion Venture Lab, will speak with fiv...

After seeing the need for climate solutions in Africa, Lyndsay Holley Handler decided to commit to building a company that would deliver clean, affordable energy and financial services to hard-to-reach communities. Amee Parbhoo speaks with Lyndsay, Co-founder and Managing Partner of Delta40 Studio, an early-stage investor and venture builder in energy, agriculture, and mobility sectors that are in...

The agriculture sector may be a big contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, but it’s also the most affected by climate change. Climate change and a lack of access to technological innovations harm rural agricultural communities. To find out how to address this, host Amee Parbhoo talks with Abhishek Gupta, co-founder of Semaai , to learn how Semaai is building agritech solutions in Indonesia to he...

Overfishing poses a big threat to the health of oceans, marine life, and communities everywhere. But the aquaculture industry presents more responsible opportunities to harvest more eco-friendly proteins. Now, through innovative digital and financial solutions, smallholder aquaculture farmers in India can dramatically improve their yields while protecting our oceans and marine life. Host Amee Parb...

For the venture space to build climate resilience among vulnerable populations, we need to mobilize more capital, talent, and innovative technology to support locally led solutions that address climate change in regions most affected. To explore this, host Amee Parbhoo talks with Maelis Carraro, Managing Partner at Catalyst Fund, about how we can build climate resilience, prepare for future risks,...

As the world grapples with the devastating impacts of climate change, financial institutions have the power to reduce vulnerability and build resilience by making financial services more accessible to vulnerable populations. In this episode, host Amee Parbhoo sits down with Howard Miller , the Director, Climate at the Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI) , to discuss how financial inclusion strate...

As climate change-related events increase in frequency, unpredictability, and severity, low-income and vulnerable populations are the most affected. In our fifth season, we’ll explore climate fintech, a new and exciting area of fintech that aims to address climate change.  We will speak to startup founders, investors, and other ecosystem players to understand how we can  help individuals and small...

Fintech is no longer just about expanding access to financial services; it’s also about increasing their quality. In this episode, Accion Venture Lab’s Amee Parbhoo sits down with TS Anil, Global CEO of Monzo Bank , to discuss his principles of building a sustainable and growth-oriented business, and what he sees for the future of inclusive fintech. TS shares his personal and professional journey,...

Climate change threatens vulnerable, low-income populations around the world, including smallholder farmers. In this discussion, we explore if fintech solutions can address farmers' pain points. Mayada El-Zoghbi , Managing Director of the Center for Financial Inclusion, leads a panel discussion between entrepreneurs and investors to discover how financial solutions can help combat and mitigate cli...

The pandemic greatly accelerated digital adoption. Now, tech is cheaper and more accessible. But innovative fintech products can  risk leaving customers behind, especially those who aren’t experienced with or comfortable using technology. Prateek Shrivastava of Accion speaks with four fintech and industry leaders at the Fintech for Inclusion Global Summit to explore how to build fintech platforms...