Dealflow | June 7, 2018

Eight startups selected as Financial Solutions Lab cohort winners

Jessica Pothering
ImpactAlpha Editor

Jessica Pothering

ImpactAlpha, June 7 – Paying for college. Money management for youths. Pre-tax paycheck withdrawals. Senior citizen insurance policy sales. Those were the areas tackled by the winners of the fourth social fintech competition run by JPMorgan Chase and the Center for Financial Services Innovation.

The theme of the competition, which received more than 300 applications in areas covering early-age savings, education financing and debt management, was “improving financial health of underrepresented communities.”

  • Seed funding… Each winner will receive $250,000.
  • Winners… FutureFuel and Sixup focus on helping pay for college; WinWin and Goalsetter help kids learn to save money; Alice allows employees to automate pre-tax spending on commuting and childcare, and Mason Finance assists seniors who want to sell life insurance policies.
  • Track record… Since its first cohort of winners in 2015, competition alumni have served 2.5 million customers and raised more than $300 million for their companies. Last week, FinLab alum Albert raised $5 million for its app that helps Americans manage daily finances.

With close to half of American struggling to save and manage their personal finances, fintech companies are offering solutions to help people cope, says JPMorgan Chase Colleen Briggs. “We believe that digital financial services will be an enabler to overall financial health.” But they aren’t a cure-all, she adds. “We have to look at systemic issues as well as products and services.”