5 Black, Latinx FinTech Founders Join Mastercard’s Start Path Program

Class is in session!

Earlier this month, Mastercard announced the latest class of its award-winning Start Path startup engagement. Five Black and Latinx founders of Guava, oneKIN, Yunit, SUMA Wealth and Truora were among the seven fintech companies selected.

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 entrepreneurs. 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 are thrilled to welcome seven bright companies into the program whose beliefs and ambitions match our own,” said Blake RosenthalExecutive Vice President, Fintech and Segment Solutions at Mastercard, according to 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.”

Unit

Philip Aubreya venture capitalist and private equity investor turned entrepreneur, is the founder and CEO of Yunit, Inc. Forbes The “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 on one platform.

Guava

Kelly Ifill is the founder and CEO of Guava, a new banking and community platform designed to serve black entrepreneurs and small business owners. The banking hub aims to help close the racial divide by offering fair financial products to black entrepreneurs.

oneKIN

Founded by the CEO Marvin Francois and marketing manager Jennifer GomezoneKIN is a mission-driven, retail technology company focused on providing small businesses with creative technology solutions to help them increase their visibility and grow sustainably.

SUM Wealth

Co-founders Beatriz Acevedo-Greiff and Xavier Gutierrez is the mastermind behind SUMA Wealth, a digital wealth-building platform with the goal of bridging the Latinx wealth gap. With this, the platform enables international peer-to-peer card payments from the US to Latin America in seconds, not hours or days.

Truora

Truora, a Colombian startup of user authentication, was founded by Maite Muñiz, David Cuadrado, Daniel Bilbao, and Cesar 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.