September Updates at Last Mile Money
Introducing our 2023 Accelerator cohort, a powerful new platform for agent network managers, and more
đ Meet the five innovative startups in the 2023 Last Mile Money Accelerator cohort
Weâre excited to announce the 2023 cohort of our third program for the Last Mile Money Accelerator. This year, weâre working with five innovative companies who are creating change at the last mile, with a specific focus on underserved women: Dvara SmartGold, Jigyasa Rurban, Leja, Oraan, and Wagely.
For this yearâs accelerator cohort, we specifically chose companies that:
See women at the last mile as a key demographic to focus on for future growth
Enable women micro entrepreneurs to access digital financial services
Boost the income of mobile-money agents and micro-merchants
Out of 300+ applications and 18 semi-finalists, just five companies made it to the finish line. Get to know them better and learn what weâll be working on together in our official announcement.Â
đ A platform approach to unlock success for agent networks
In their latest collaboration, the CICO Collective focused on empowering agent network managers (ANMs) with data-driven tools. ANMs play a crucial role in the on-the-ground mobilization of cash-in/cash-out agents who facilitate transactions for underserved communities. They are often the link between financial-service providers and their customers, helping them to serve those at the last mile.
Despite these benefits, ANMs also face numerous challenges on a daily basis, from addressing common issues like float management, connectivity, and fraudâto ensuring agents receive proper onboarding and training. The lack of clear data and actionable tools often hinders their ability to make strategic decisions that can drive growth and revenue.
Recognizing these challenges, we convened with the UN Capital Development Fund, Learn.ink, Africa 118, Masae Analytics, Highlight Tradings, and Kazana Group to develop an innovative solution: an all-in-one platform designed specifically to streamline the day-to-day operations of ANMs and empower them to make data-driven decisions that lead to business growth. With its user-friendly interface and powerful features, ANMs can easily visualize the state of their network, track progress toward goals, and identify areas of opportunity for expansion and improvement. Learn more about the platform and where itâs going next.
đ¤ Coming up in Octoberâsee you at Money20/20
Money20/20 USA is one of the worldâs biggest, most influential gatherings of the global money ecosystem. Join Last Mile Money Co-Lead Becca Carroll as she shares lessons we've learned from building financial products over the past four years. Join to hear her learnings in Designing for Radical Confidence on Tuesday, October 24. Learn more here.
đ ICYMI: The Financial Confidence Playbook is now live!
In case you missed it, the Financial Confidence Playbook is now live! Available for access around the globe, the Playbook is a comprehensive design guide to help product teams building digital financial services for the last mile find product-market fit fasterâincluding our go-to design principles, UI/UX inspiration, and even a Figma library with end-to-end flows.
âThis library reduces my product research time and makes it better, because this is better UI than I would find on my ownâŚIt feels like an aggregation of good design in one place.â â Eric Cuellar, Co-Founder, Node Finance
Dive into the Playbook or learn more about what went into its creation to get started today.
đ¸ď¸ Network Updates
Mool, a startup from our first Accelerator, became one of the first Financial Information Users (FIUs) to live on the Account Aggregator platform for non-lending, personal finance use cases! This enables Mool users to view their transactions and get insights across all their bank and investment accounts.
Mool also recently launched investment portfolios on smallcase that are designed for low volatility, long-term investing. Check them out.
đĽ What weâre watching this month
A recent CIFAR Alliance webinar shared CGAP research on climate resilience and financial inclusion, presented by Silvia Baur-Yazbeck and Wendy Chamberlin. The findings raised critical questions like: How can we enhance the adoption and utilization of financial services to boost the climate resilience of the most vulnerable?
đ Get the latest LMM updates on LinkedIn
IDEO Last Mile Money is now on LinkedIn. Follow our page to stay up-to-date with all things Last Mile Moneyâannouncements about our Accelerator, CICO Collective, webinars, events, and think piecesâall in one place!
đ Launch and scale with us
If youâre interested in scaling last-mile solutions and helping financial agents grow, weâd love to hear from you! Get in touch with our team at LastMileMoney@ideo.com