IMPACTASSETS 50™
An Annual Showcase of Impact Investment Fund Managers
ImpactAssets 50
An Annual Showcase of Impact Investment Fund Managers
ResilienceVC
Financial and Economic Inclusion
Microfinance and Low-income Financial Services
Diversity, Equity and InclusionFirm Overview
ResilienceVC is a venture firm investing in fintech startups in the US that build financial resilience for users and deliver top-tier returns for investors. The firm invests in seed stage startups where fintech integrated into core services and channels plays a key role in helping low to moderate income consumers and micro and small businesses thrive. Founded by Tahira Dosani and Vikas Raj, the ResilienceVC team has two decades of joint experience in seed stage impact investing in fintech and has supported over 75 innovative and impactful fintech startups. We use our extensive knowledge of the sector and of early stage investing to identify and support the next generation of visionary fintech entrepreneurs that are building measurable financial resilience for all Americans.
Years of Operation: Less than 3 years
% of Capital from Top 3 Investors: 25% – 49%
ResilienceVC invests in seed stage fintech startups that are building financial resilience for low- and moderate-income Americans and small businesses via scalable business model and technology innovation.
ResilienceVC invests in seed stage fintech startups in the US that are seeking to build financial resilience for low- and moderate-income Americans and micro and small businesses via startup-led innovation. Most Americans live paycheck-to-paycheck and the majority spend more than they earn, leading to financial vulnerability that dramatically affects economic, physical and mental health. We support the next generation of visionary entrepreneurs building scalable startups that enable financial resilience for these Americans by leveraging embedded fintech, integrating financial services into existing products, services or value chains where customers already are. Our fintech, venture and impact focus allows us to identify and support those startups at the seed stage. We believe our focus on resilience will drive impact and returns by improving access to and utility of relevant, affordable, and high quality financial products for customers, enabling end customers to generate income, manage risk, and build wealth.
ResilienceVC is the only venture firm with an exclusive focus on seed-stage, embedded fintech, and impact in the US. We have a decade of joint experience in fintech investing and have supported over 75 seed fintech impact startups. This gives us a unique understanding of fintech trends and the needs of underserved customers, which we use to support the next generation of scalable fintech startups that are truly building for impact. We are among the first institutional partners for these companies, and our extensive experience across more than 100 early stage fintech transactions gives us a unique understanding of pricing, portfolio management and exit strategy. We have deep conviction in our portfolio companies and their founders, often taking board or observer seats to help them build strong governance and closely collaborate with them on fundraising, strategy, operations, and talent to drive responsible business growth and resilience for end users.
Investment Example
A recent investment that the firm executed is in Mirza (www.heymirza.com). Mirza helps low-income employees and Medicaid recipients uncover and access government child care subsidies. Rising childcare costs, now an average of ~$20K/year per child, are putting significant financial pressure on the lives of many. There are billions of dollars of childcare subsidies and rebates for low-income families, but these resources are confusing, fragmented, and under-utilized; $140B in authorized government benefits go unclaimed each year. Mirza helps parents learn about relevant childcare benefits, identify benefit programs for which they are eligible, and easily apply for those benefits. The average Mirza user receives $10K in annual childcare funding per child, which can be used toward daycare centers or can be used to pay extended family members and friends who provide childcare. To date, over 90% of Mirza users have been eligible, and qualify on average for 3 different childcare subsidy programs.
Leadership and Team
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Tahira Dosani – Co-Founder and Managing Partner More Info
Tahira is a seasoned investor and operator in the fintech space. She has invested in over 75 early-stage fintech startups, including four unicorns, and enjoys working closely with founders to accelerate their growth. She has a commitment to driving measurable impact through her work and views impact as a returns multiplier. Prior to co-founding ResilienceVC, Tahira was a Managing Director at Accion Venture Lab, a seed-stage venture capital impact fund focused on inclusive fintech. |
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Vikas Raj – Co-Founder and Managing Partner More Info
Vikas has spent his career operating and investing in startup led innovation in financial services. He has invested in over 70 fintech startups, helping them raise over $1 billion and creating over $3 billion in value, with a singular focus on inclusive solutions for highly underserved consumers and small businesses.Prior to co-founding ResilienceVC, Vikas was a Managing Director at Accion Venture Lab, where he led the fund’s investment work globally and was a Board member of Self Inc, Konfio, SMECorner, StreetShares, and Tienda Pago (among others). |
Financial Performance
Impact Performance
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Percentage of Total Assets Under
Management that are Impact Investments: |
100%
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ResilienceVC exclusively invests in seed stage startups that are driving financial resilience for low- and moderate-income consumers & small businesses. We define resilience as the ability to withstand and grow through adversity, and we think startup led innovation can empower all Americans to build the financial resilience they need to thrive. The companies we invest in make financial tools relevant, affordable, and useful for their customers by focusing on three elements of financial resilience: robust and reliable income generation, risk mitigation and recovery, and asset building. The core product of the business has to hit one of those three drivers of financial resilience for us to make an investment.
We believe that the entrepreneurs that are best-positioned to positively impact the lives of financially vulnerable Americans are those that deeply understand the core, underlying challenges facing those customers. Often that understanding comes from one’s own lived experiences. ResilienceVC therefore takes an intentional approach to tracking and supporting diversity and “founder market fit” for prospective and existing portfolio companies, but also as a firm and for our end customers. As a firm we are entirely BIPOC-owned, and 50% female owned. We track our portfolio companies’ diversity (in particular across executive teams and Boards), and after we invest we seek to support companies in developing and implementing policies and processes to drive diverse recruiting and retention. Ultimately, we believe we have a resilient team that is targeting particularly resilient founding teams, and that diversity is a core component of resilience.
Impact Tracking and Monitoring
Learn More
1140 Connecticut Ave NW, Suite 920, Washington, DC 20036 USA
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