Investors and entrepreneurs know Seedstars as the new Financial Innovations for Women Affected by Migration (FIWAM), and now, the scheme is getting attention.
This growth project supports fintech businesses that make it easier for women, especially migrants, to access financial services. The project targets women in Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa.
FIWAM is supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and the Austrian Development Agency. The programme for these groups is paid for by the Impact-Linked Fund for Gender Inclusive FinTech (ILF for GIF), which is run by the ILFF. Seedstars and the ILF for GIF are trying to make it easier for foreign women to get and use money.
IDPs and international refugees are rising worldwide. Financial services must be available to 281 million foreign migrants and 55 million domestic migrants. Banking is difficult for migrating women. These issues stem from language, society, documentation, laws, and movement. FIWAM supports financial firms that aid women migrants and women affected by migration.
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FIWAM’s Beneficiaries Benefit
The FIWAM Growth Programme will help fintech companies in Asia, the Middle East, and sub-Saharan Africa find investors and grow their impact. Each group of 10 to 15 fintechs from each area will get help from experts in residence (EIR) and mentors who understand the needs of women migrants. These new businesses will get important advice and help for three months.
FIWAM Growth Programme startups must qualify. Sub-Saharan, Middle Eastern, North African, and Asian for-profit enterprises are needed. Women who move or are affected by migration must also have financial options. Startups should grow and sell $10,000 a month. Applying to women-led and women-founded enterprises is encouraged.
Susanne Thiard-Laforet, who works for the Austrian Development Agency as Programme Manager of Private Sector and Development, wants to work with Seedstars. She said the plan improves financial services for migrants, their families, and the communities where they live. Thiard-Laforet says this scheme recognises women migrants as a market sector. The Austrian Development Agency will help and learn from this programme’s new ideas for financial inclusion.
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Elizabeth Jones, Global Lead of Programme Operations at Seedstars, said, “We’re excited to start the Financial Innovations for Women Affected by Migration (FIWAM) Growth Programme because it could have a long-lasting effect on the lives of women migrants and women whose lives are affected by migration. We can’t wait to see how these new ways of bringing people into the financial system will change their neighbourhoods.
Fintech startups that want to join the FIWAM Growth Programme can apply until July 30, 2023, through the programme’s website. This is a unique chance for startups to help with financial inclusion and make a change in the lives of women whose lives are affected by migration. Seedstars and its partners are ready to help and encourage these startups on their way to making real and lasting changes in the world of financial inclusion.