Stellar Lumens supports fintech startups to conquer the billion-$ market in Latin America

• TechStars selected 12 startups from the LatAm countries for its first technology startup accelerator program to offer innovative solutions to the region’s underserved market.
• The total duration of the program is 90 days, with founders from South America (especially Brazil, Argentina and Chile), USA, Latin America and Mexico participating.

In a recent blog post, Stellar-powered TechStars payments announced the 12 startups they selected for their first accelerator program. According to the announcement, TechStars selected these startups based on the innovative payment solutions they offer for underserved or emerging markets in categories such as financial infrastructure, investment, personal financial management, lending, financial literacy and payments.

This TechStars program is the first physical training for technology startups in Latin America. It is a hybrid program where the TechStars team will meet virtually and physically with these startups’ teams. They will hold these physical meetings in Miami, Mexico City and Dallas, with meetings in each location lasting a week.

The total duration of the program is 90 days, with founders from South America (especially Brazil, Argentina and Chile), USA, Latin America and Mexico participating.

A hugely underserved market

Blockchain-based distributed ledger, Stellar Lumens and digital payments giant, MoneyGram, are the main sponsors of this program. It is worth noting that Stellar Lumens and MoneyGram are also partners, and they have established a robust fintech ecosystem across emerging markets, including LatAm nations.

The program director of TechStar’s payments accelerator, Tricia Martinez, believes that there are endless opportunities for financial inclusion and fintech innovation in LatAm countries, as it has a huge underserved market. Martinez added that many businesses are seeking solutions to their operations’ problems, such as currency volatility and broken infrastructure.

Similarly, consumers want efficient systems and pay huge fees to carry out their financial transactions.

Startups for the first program

The 12 startups selected by TechStars for its first accelerator program are:

• Banca.me plans to provide easier, cheaper and faster access to loans for LatAm residents.
• Bundle aims to facilitate investment for the average resident. It plans to launch an automated system that deducts reserve amounts from daily user purchases made with credit cards. Then invest such reserve amounts in various financial instruments such as stocks and crypto. A side benefit is that this method enables users to develop healthy investment habits.
• College Cash plans to help students earn cash rewards for the regular content they share daily on social platforms. It will partner with brands to make this happen, and it will be available to all students, including high school students, and they can use their rewards to offset their student loans.
• Lenme plans to offer short-term crypto-back loans to businesses, institutions and individuals.
• Glimmerits focus is on tenants. The innovative solution will help tenants rent their chosen apartment, automate bill payments and reduce moving costs, among other benefits.
• Inc plans to help young adults automate savings and investments. Users can automate setup rules to save easily and meet their financial goals.

The other six startups on the list are Moneo, Mox, Ola, Pactta, Uils and Zumma. Meanwhile, Stellar Lumens’ native token XLM is responding positively to the development. It is up 3.2 percent in the last 24 hours and is trading at $0.075 per our data.

Other positive developments in the Stellar Lumens ecosystem could push XLM’s price to the $0.10 mark in the near term.