Fintech for Good Fund

Grounded in my work with early-stage global funds, 800+ founders, and the mobilisation of $40m+ across asset classes, I am using the opportunity I have as a Newton Venture Fellow to incubate a fintech-for-good twin fund model. The model backs Seed–Series A startups serving under-financed markets.

A bit about the model is that it's based on my experience with many global funds like Antler, Crisis, Techstars, Village Capital and others and is designed to enable liquidity and optionality through both convertible/redeemable equity and debt structures (suitable for on-lending). 

At its heart, this Inclusive Early Bridge model is designed to:

• provide additional ownership retention and financing options for founders;

• increase liquidity with upside for early stage funders;

• create a clear de-risked pipeline for later-stage follow-on financiers, including FSPs, CDFIs, and CVCs in the financial sector;

• increase financial inclusion through market-based solutions like fintechs for good.

Here's an overview:

As I advance a near-term accelerator demonstration model that will ultimately lead to a fund with an associated credit facility, I'm currently interviewing key stakeholders (founders, funders, intermediaries -- and especially CVCs) to further refine the concept. 

To be clear: the point of these interviews is not to sell anything. Further, while validating any parts of the model are certainly value and appreciated, I'm also experienced enough in the industry to really value feedback that illuminates blindspots or otherwise points out areas that need further diligence. Of course, for those willing to spend their time discussing this model, I'm also happy to share insights -- and examples of relevant deal flow -- that I'm seeing in the market.

If you’ve got a stake in this as a founder, funder, or practitioner, let's talk.

Further Background

The challenge

I’ve worked with dozens of global funds and hundreds of early-stage startups. Across sectors and geographies — and definitely because of my deep interest in finance for good — my favorite ventures are like little Russian dolls of impact finance: fintechs that use the market to provide both capital and impact to under-capitalised communities. A few standouts:

• In the UAE, Watermelon Ecosystem is transforming the food system by providing fairer factoring to SME suppliers. They are backed by Techstars and a leading credit facility in MENA.

  
  

• In Africa, Chancen -- backed by 100x Impact/LSE & UBS -- is pioneering fair ISAs for graduate degrees. They are now scaling cross-border and into a blended fund.

  
  

• And, in the UK Pfida is a Sharia-compliant co-ownership model making home-ownership accessible beyond the Muslim community. Early funding came from their community, their own savings product -- which provided key cash in for the co-buying model -- and Crisis Venture Studio. They have completed buying 100+ homes with their community, and now raising a REIT.

Here's some more detail on those:

Each of these companies has cleared early hurdles and proven out models of lending into underserved markets. Yet their path to aligned financing before Series B is consistently blocked: too commercial for philanthropy, too risky for banks, too impact-driven for VC. Many are forced to pivot away from impact — or shut down entirely — and we all lose scalable, sustainable paths to financial inclusion.

The opportunity:

What if early-stage fintech-for-good didn’t have to choose between selling out or nothing? I believe there’s a bridge: a twin-instrument approach combining redeemable equity and mission-aligned debt to deliver fit-for-purpose capital at this critical stage. Unlike accelerators offering only equity or grants, this approach directly addresses liquidity needs while giving founders optionality, responsible exits, and a pathway to scale. A near-term pilot could be a $5M demonstration fund with a banking partner to validate instruments, demand, and pipeline readiness.

The market signal:

What I'm stress-testing:

• Should this exist now? Is this the right action, right time?

• What are the biggest risks — or are we not thinking big enough?

• Who else is already experimenting with this, and how can we partner or learn?

• And most importantly: which banks, modelers, or catalytic co-funders should we be talking to?

Interested?

If you’ve got interest in financial inclusion, debt instruments, CVCs — or you’d simply like a friendly arena to test your bridge too far finance jokes — let's talk.

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