Class is in session!
Earlier this month, Mastercard announced the latest class of its award-winning Start Path startup engagement program. Five Black and Latinx founders of Guava, oneKIN, Yunit, SUMA Wealth, and Truora were among the seven fintech companies chosen.
The financial services giant selected three early-stage startups with underrepresented founders and four late-stage fintech innovators looking to scale their businesses, according to a press release. The press release informs that the companies will receive “mentorship from Mastercard, access to customers and product teams to help build, deliver and scale solutions, and uncover unique opportunities to co-innovate.”
Guava, oneKIN and Yunit will join the Start Path In Solidarity pathway launched in 2021, which is exclusively dedicated to supporting early-stage startups led by traditionally underrepresented fintech founders. The program is part of Mastercard’s $500 million pledge to help close the racial wealth and opportunity gap.
“As we continue our eight-year legacy of successful collaboration with startups around the world through Start Path, we’re thrilled to welcome seven bright companies into the program whose beliefs and ambitions match our own,” said Blake Rosenthal, executive vice president, Fintech and Segment Solutions at Mastercard, per the release.
“The companies we selected are on the pulse of what’s next and together we can create an ecosystem where everyone thrives by scaling technology and innovation with trust and security at the center.”
Yunit
Philip Aubrey, a venture capitalist and private equity investor turned entrepreneur, is the founder and chief executive officer of Yunit, Inc. The Forbes “30 Under 30” honoree created a mobile app that makes it easy for friends and family to save money together, participate in investment groups, and thrive all on one platform.
Guava
Kelly Ifill is the founder and chief executive officer of Guava, a neo-bank and community platform designed to serve Black entrepreneurs and small business owners. The banking hub aims to help close the racial wealth gap by providing equitable financial products to Black entrepreneurs.
oneKIN
Founded by Chief Executive Officer Marvin François and Chief Marketing Officer Jennifer Gomez, oneKIN is a mission-driven, retail-tech company that focuses on providing small businesses creative technology solutions to help them increase their visibility and grow sustainably.
SUMA Wealth
Co-founders Beatriz Acevedo-Greiff and Xavier Gutierrez are the masterminds behind SUMA Wealth, a wealth-building digital platform with the goal of bridging the Latinx wealth gap. With this, the platform enables international peer-to-peer payments on cards from the United States to Latin America in seconds, not hours or days.
Truora
Truora, a Colombian user authentication startup, was founded by Maite Muñiz, David Cuadrado, Daniel Bilbao,and César Pino. The technology company simplifies the ways in which companies connect, interact, verify, and acquire users and customers. In 2021, Truora launched identification services on WhatsApp, an internationally available free internet-based text and voice messaging service.