Innovate Financial Health, a national non-profit that supports technology to improve Canadians’ financial health, has announced the participants and launch of the first-ever cohort of its IFH Impact Accelerator.
The cohort includes tech startups AltruWisdom, PolicyMe, Quber, and Zayzoon.
Innovate Financial Health is offering a three-month financial health startup accelerator, where the startups will receive a grant funding of $25,000 each to help build and scale financial solutions for Canadians. In addition to $25,000 in grant funding, the startups will receive access to more than 70 mentors and curriculum support.
The cohort includes four Canadian tech startups: Calgary-based online financial education platform AltruWisdom, Toronto-based life insurance education platform PolicyMe, Moncton-based financial app Quber, and Calgary-based HRtech startup ZayZoon.
The goal of the accelerator is to help FinTech startups with challenges like conducting user testing with financially vulnerable Canadians, forming partnerships with financial institutions, and fundraising from FinTech and impact investors.
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An official kick-off event took place on January 22, with the sessions expected to begin in the following weeks. The accelerator is funded by Capital One, along with Innovate Financial Health’s funders and partners JP Morgan Chase, Prosper Canada, and Social Capital Partners.
Launched in 2018, Innovate Financial Health is a group of startups, investors, non-profits, and financial institutions looking to find solutions to improve Canadians’ financial lives by creating products and services. The organization aims to fill the gap in Canadians’ money management by building an ecosystem with the goal of helping ventures scale their impact. It also holds workshop sessions on impact measurement, inclusive user testing, and financial institution partnerships.
“We started Innovate Financial Health because we believe that technology can play a critical role in addressing the real challenges that millions of Canadians face each and every day in managing their money,” said Elvis Wong, founder and managing director of Innovate Financial Health.
Innovate Financial Health noted that over 40 ventures from across the country applied to be part of its first cohort.