Accion Announces Close of $61.6M Second Accion Venture Lab Fund Investing in Early-Stage Inclusive Fintech

Accion today announces the final close of a $61.6 million fund that will invest in early-stage fintech companies meeting the needs of financially  underserved people globally. Accion Venture Lab Fund II, LP builds on a decade-long  investment strategy focused on delivering social and financial objectives through early-stage  venture capital investments.  

The Fund closed with commitments from both existing and new investors, including  commercial and impact asset managers, development finance institutions, foundations, family  offices, and strategic financial service companies. Limited Partners in the fund include the  Dutch entrepreneurial development bank FMO, Proparco, ImpactAssets, Ford Foundation, MetLife Asset Management, Mastercard Worldwide. The most recent initial investments by the  new fund are PaidHR in Nigeria, Foyer in the United States, FinFra in Indonesia, and Flowcart  in Kenya. 

With the launch of the new fund, Accion Impact Management’s early-stage fintech strategy has  rebranded from Accion Venture Lab to Accion Ventures. Accion Ventures finds innovative tech  companies that promote financial inclusion around the globe and have the potential to  generate attractive returns. Bringing a deep understanding of local customers and markets,  combined with global learnings, the team behind Accion Ventures supports investments across Africa, South and Southeast Asia, Latin America, and the United States.  

According to the Global Findex 2025, worldwide, 1.6 billion people do not have an account  with a financial institution or have an inactive account, and the $5.7 trillion annual financing  gap for micro, small, and medium-sized businesses represents a huge market opportunity for  innovative startups ready to disrupt the traditional financial system. Accion Ventures finds and  helps scale companies at the forefront of the latest trends in fintech, delivering financial  solutions leveraging embedded finance, alternative data, Generative AI (Gen AI), and more.  

Since the investment strategy was established in 2012, Accion Ventures has deployed $59.4  million in 76 companies across 39 countries and had 13 exits across all geographies. The  three most recent exits were Apollo Agriculture, a company providing tech-enabled inputs,  financing, insurance, and training to smallholder farmers in Kenya and Zambia; Lula, an all digital small business lender and bank account provider for small and medium enterprises in  South Africa; and Pula, a company providing agricultural insurtech solutions to smallholder  farmers across Africa and Asia. 

Beyond deploying capital, Accion Ventures provides hands-on support to startups across the  critical areas of a fintech lifecycle, including access to market expertise, board governance,  networking to open doors in typically limited debt and equity funding environments, and  strategic and operational guidance from a dedicated Portfolio Engagement team, drawn from  expertise as international investors and operators of tech companies.

Michael Schlein, President and CEO of Accion said: “With the huge uptick in mobile  technologies in emerging economies, we see a significant opportunity to connect many small  businesses and low-income consumers to the digital economy for the first time. Leveraging  third-party capital to deliver social and financial objectives is a critical part of Accion’s  strategy. This fund seeks to support the growth of early-stage, disruptive companies providing  high-quality, affordable financial services that can help reduce poverty and create opportunity for millions of people globally.” 

Rahil Rangwala, Managing Partner, Accion Ventures, said: “We are excited to support the  growth of incredible innovators across the globe in early-stage fintech who are using new  technology ranging from Gen AI to satellite imagery and embedded finance, leveraging the  power of mobile phones and the internet to deliver sustainable financial returns, alongside real  world impact for underserved people globally. We have a strong pipeline and team in place  and will continue to leverage our networks to deliver quality, affordable financial services for  small businesses and consumers globally.”  

Amee Parbhoo, Managing Partner, Accion Ventures, said: “With this new funding, we will build  on our success to date, finding and scaling some of the world’s most innovative fintech  companies that provide a full suite of financial products and services to small businesses  globally. Our global portfolio and local approach mean we can spot and respond to trends  faster, driving local innovations on a global scale, and share learnings across geographies. We  aim to be one of the first institutional checks a company receives and will continue to engage  early, while maintaining sufficient reserves to back our winners as they scale.”