Catalyst Fund, managed by BFA Global and Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA), has announced a new £12 million commitment from UK aid and J.P.Morgan to advance financial inclusion for underserved people across the world.

Over the next three years, the inclusive FinTech accelerator will support the growth of 30 additional startups across five key emerging markets: Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, India and Mexico.

The announcement took place alongside the UK-Africa Investment Summit, hosted by the UK prime minister.

In addition to its expansion, Catalyst Fund announced its latest cohort of inclusive startups, including:

• Pesakit – a Kenya-based app for mobile money agents.
• Kwara – a Kenya-based online and mobile banking platform for savings and credit cooperatives.
• Cowrywise – a savings and investment tool targeted toward Nigerian youth.
• Meerkat – a South Africa-based debt counselling and savings product.
• Farmart – an India digital credit platform for farmers.
• Spoon – a South African savings and credit offering for women-owned, subsistence enterprises.

Catalyst Fund director Maelis Carraro commented: "The additional support from UK aid and continued support from J.P.Morgan will enable us to deepen our local footprints and ecosystem development role in each of our key markets, as well as welcome new partners that can support our mission."

The new commitment will enable the program to apply lessons learned from accelerating startups in emerging markets over the past four years and focus on:

• Providing critical pre-seed capital and bespoke venture building support;
• Broadening the pool of investors who receive 1:1 connections with Catalyst Fund companies;
• Accelerating the innovation ecosystems in each market to improve startups’ access to capital, corporate partnerships and talent; and
• Sharing best practices toolkits, learnings and insights with the global fintech community to spur innovation across markets.

UK minister for Africa Andrew Stephenson stated: "This innovative work is crucial to changing the lives of people around the world by providing access to basic services like pensions, lending and healthcare."

Catalyst Fund was created in 2016 with support from J.P.Morgan and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, accelerating 25 FinTech startups to date. Its approach is a combination of flexible grant capital, tailored venture building support and curated introductions to investors.

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