Over the last five years, the Financial Solutions Lab has supported nearly 40 organizations focused on improving financial health via fintech products, services, and solutions, often addressing an unmet need or underserved population. These cohort companies have gone on to serve more than 4.5 million consumers, helping them save more than $1 billion.
Today, we are launching the sixth fintech accelerator challenge – this year focusing on Worker and Student Financial Health. Our latest challenge will concentrate on cultivating, supporting, and scaling fintech solutions that support the financial health of workers today and tomorrow, with a focus on people who face persistent financial health challenges, including low- to moderate-income (LMI) consumers, communities of color, aging individuals, people with disabilities, women, and other underserved consumers.
Why the Focus on Workers and Students?
Employment remains central to every American’s financial health. Workers face unique challenges resulting from accelerating technological changes, the redefinition of employment and its related benefits, increasingly complex financial lives, and rising costs of education and training programs necessary for career advancement.
- Unpredictable income makes individuals 2.5 times less likely to be financially healthy.
- Gig economy employment does not fully replace traditional sources of income.
- More than 7.2 million jobs remain unfilled in the U.S.
- Up to one-third of American workers will need to change jobs or retrain due to the changing economy by 2030.
Both innovation and competition can create the conditions necessary for the emergence of new products and services to enable people to simultaneously manage their educational needs and work responsibilities.
Who Should Apply?
The Financial Solutions Lab seeks entrepreneurs, early-stage companies, and nonprofits to submit their innovative financial solutions that help current and future workers navigate trends and challenges such as automation, job changes, gig economy employment, upskilling, retraining, etc.
For examples of companies we engage with, look at last year’s cohort which addressed workplace financial health challenges by providing innovative workplace financial health and wellness programs.
Benefits of Being a Financial Solutions Lab Cohort Company
The next cohort will be selected in late March 2020. Organizations selected for the cohort will receive up to $125,000 in capital in addition to professional services assistance from industry leaders and mentorship from the Financial Health Network and JPMorgan Chase employees.
Recently, the Financial Solutions Lab received renewed support from founding partner JPMorgan Chase: read more here.
Join our next class of innovators. Applications are open through January 6, 2020.