The Financial Solutions Lab Accelerator is proud to introduce its 2021 cohort, which has a focus on expanding financial resilience and growth.

As part of 10-year $60 million initiative, selected companies focus on credit, insurance, digital banking, and asset building solutions for LMI, Black, Latinx, and LGBT+ communities

People who are arrested, detained, and/or incarcerated often have interactions with the criminal justice system that lead to short-term financial crises and long-term financial instability for themselves and their families. In many cases, families forgo basic needs because of loss of income  following their loved one’s incarceration. Punitive fines and fees create a cycle of […]

Student debt remains a critical topic for both borrowers and policymakers. Many borrowers now face the added financial challenge of unemployment as a result of the pandemic, and policymakers are urgently seeking ways to support these individuals. Now consider that Black and Latinx borrowers are disproportionately affected by the economic fallout from the pandemic, while […]

The Financial Solutions Lab is showing how traditional financial organizations can co-create with nonprofits and entrepreneurs to improve the financial health of all Americans. Read the article on Stanford Social Innovation Review >>

FSL provided WISER a $75,000 general operating grant to ensure it can continue to support to independent workers in rural Appalachia.

The Financial Health Network announced today that Hannah Calhoon has joined the team as Vice President, Innovation. In this role, she will be responsible for leading the Financial Solutions Lab, finding new ways to support our partners and innovators as they work to improve financial health for all. Learn more about Hannah’s past experience and […]

As the pandemic was initially unfolding and unemployment rates in the U.S. made headlines, research showed that Americans facing both unemployment and student loan debt experienced serious risks to their financial health. One in five unemployed U.S. adults report that they or someone in their household has a student loan, and the 45 million Americans […]

Lori Shao founded Finli, one of the Financial Solutions Lab Accelerator’s 2020 Cohort companies, in 2019. Finli’s comprehensive business management software relieves family-centric businesses, like neighborhood schools and enrichment programs, from the administrative burdens of invoicing, tuition collection, and maintaining a digital presence by providing an enterprise solution and parent-approved app. Given its area of […]

Over the past six years, the Financial Solutions Lab has run an annual fintech accelerator that has supported more than 40 companies with investments, resources, mentorship, and more to improve the financial health of people across the U.S. These companies have reached more than 5 million low- to moderate-income consumers – and over 10 million […]

As part of $60 million, 10-year program, seventh annual Accelerator program now accepting applications from financial technology companies helping people improve financial resilience and build long-term financial growth in the wake of COVID-19 CHICAGO – Oct 27, 2020 – The Financial Solutions Lab, an initiative from the Financial Health Network in collaboration with JPMorgan Chase […]

The challenges posed by deepening financial insecurity are having a profound and long-term impact on individuals and families, and solutions will require cross-sector collaboration and partnership. To support these solutions, the Financial Solutions Lab intentionally recruited members to its new Advisory Council who bring a vast range of experience and backgrounds, from organizational strategy to […]

Prudential Financial joins the Financial Health Network and JPMorgan Chase to scale financial and technical support for fintechs that are developing solutions for underserved communities Four new fintech innovators selected for sixth accelerator cohort to improve worker and student financial health   CHICAGO – June 22, 2020 – The Financial Solutions Lab, an initiative launched […]

Fintech has a powerful role to play in solving financial health challenges in a more inclusive way.

More than 33 million Americans have filed for unemployment since March – a new record. Yet even during the economic expansion of the last decade, the U.S. Financial Health Pulse shows that only 29% of Americans are considered financially healthy.

With 70% of recent graduates going into the workforce saddled with student debt, Laurel Taylor saw a massive opportunity to rethink the way debt repayment, roundup, and refinancing was handled. Her startup, FutureFuel.io, uses machine learning and technology to reimagine how employers can use student debt repayment as an attractive recruiting and retention tool. Taylor […]

Competition to focus on financial technology companies and nonprofits that aim to improve the financial health of workers and students in the U.S.

Ronnie Washington founded Onward to enable workers of all income levels to build financial security. Onward is a non-profit employer-based mobile savings and credit app that helps workers save effortlessly, build financial knowledge, and access responsible credit when emergencies strike. What the 401k is for long-term retirement savings, Onward is for short-term emergency savings. Ronnie […]

Anuraag Tripathi and Meenakshi Lakshmanan founded Manifest to create a seamless retirement transfer solution. Currently, most 401(k) transfers are done manually, which is a tedious process. It’s estimated that nearly 90% of people who start a transfer, don’t complete the pen, paper, fax, and mail process. With more people changing jobs, the number of accounts […]

MedPut is an employee benefit program that provides 0% financing and bill negotiation services for out-of-pocket medical bills, with no impact to an employee’s credit score. Founders Stefan Sharma and Harsha Puvvada share their story. Q. What was the problem in the world that inspired you to start your company? We launched MedPut after observing […]

Eight financial technology entrepreneurs focused on delivering innovative financial health solutions chosen to join lab created by the Financial Health Network and JPMorgan Chase Lab to continue focusing on helping startups improve and scale solutions for populations who face difficulty managing their financial lives, such as people of color, low-income women, aging Americans and individuals […]

Ennie Lim, along with co-founders Benny Yiu and Max Zschoch, founded HoneyBee to help employees, regardless of credit history, access an extra week’s pay anytime to help manage unplanned expenses and build credit. The employee’s salary, employment tenure, and accrued paid time off (PTO) is the credit–securing loans with unused PTO is a differentiator in […]

Callum King, along with Jacky Chiu, Shawn Leavitt, and Tom Spann founded Brightside, a personalized financial health platform providing employees with one place to go for all their financial needs. King shares why he and his team became fintech founders focused on creating solutions to specifically address workplace financial health challenges. Q. What inspired you […]

Alex Mooradian and his co-founder Michael Bovee teamed up to figure out how to help people in debt better handle unexpected financial crises such as a loss of job or medical emergency. Together they built Resolve, a free platform that creates a custom debt relief plan for users. The platform connects people with an integrated […]

As fellows at the Robin Hood Foundation, Paul Barnes-Hoggett and Avi Karnani spent a lot of time thinking about how to help people increase their income. The co-founders created Alice, software that helps people keep more of what they earn by automating pre-tax spending on everyday things like commuting, childcare, and healthcare. Barnes-Hoggett sat down […]

What is the origin story of your company? I grew up a high-achieving, low-income student and was the first in my family to go to college. Like myself, many people on Sixup’s team share a similar background. We believe the path to and through college is broken and that the student loan financing system must […]

Despite the fact that more than half of U.S. households struggle with their financial health, fintech founders and those who invest in them reflect a homogenous world. While specific numbers for diversity in fintech are difficult to nail down, we know that all-women teams of entrepreneurs received just 2 percent of all investment by venture […]

Pictured: Tanya Van Court, CEO and founder of Goalsetter Kids with savings accounts in their name are six times more likely to go to college and four times more likely to own stocks as young adults. Having worked as a leader in preschool and parenting digital products at Nickelodeon, Tanya van Court knew a lot […]