A new fintech platform, Txeya, has been created to make it easier for female, Black, other ethnic minorities, and LGBT+ entrepreneurs to fund and scale their businesses.
Founded by entrepreneur Paula Pandolfino, who also has decades of experience in the banking sector, the platform aims to inject equality into the funding model and financially empower the next generation of diverse-led businesses.
Txeya will drive greater equity in entrepreneurship by giving underrepresented entrepreneurs “access to financial products that will support them along their entire start-up journey,” including better access to funding, which remains a significant barrier for diverse startup founders. This is seen globally for women, for example, who receive less than 6% of all venture capital funding.
Through a range of financial empowerment tools, the platform will help entrepreneurs overcome these barriers via a banking account, access to credit, and a gateway to institutional investors looking for diverse-led businesses.
On the investor side, Txeya provides “quality deal flow for socially conscious investors and a seamless experience” by introducing them to opportunities with underrepresented entrepreneurs and their businesses.
Pandolfino said: “The lack of funding in female, Black, minority ethnic and LGBTQ+ businesses is unacceptable and urgently needs to be addressed. At Txeya, we are championing the cause for equality from both sides. We are giving entrepreneurs access to a platform specifically designed around their needs and pain points while showing investors a clear path to connecting with exceptional entrepreneurs and business ideas that will convert their investment into high-value returns.”
Ann-Kathrin Grebner, Co-founder and CEO of Berlin-based health and wellbeing start-up My Inner Health Club, said: “We’re excited to have access to both credit and equity investment through Txeya. Its founders understand the current barriers entrepreneurs face regarding access to funding and how difficult the process can be. By combining business banking and funding, Txeya solves two problems that every start-up has and helps us focus on making our business a success.”
Heather Henyon, Founding Partner of venture firm Mindshift Capital, added: “Financial returns are clearly high up on the agenda when an investor looks for new companies and people to invest in, but it’s also important to add amazing businesses founded by diverse entrepreneurs to any investment portfolio.
“With Txeya, investors are guaranteed both diverse business founders and excellent returns in one package. We are excited to see that Txeya is opening doors to and for underrepresented founders to improve their access to funding, and it’s encouraging to see diversity becoming more central in conversations about investment.”
