Many Americans struggle with money issues. According to the founders, the current financial system doesn’t always work well for everyone
By Ada Jain
Started in 2023, Tahira Dosani and Vikas Raj began investing in small startup companies that are trying to help regular Americans with their finances. They’ve secured $56 million from investors to do this through their startup ResilienceVC.
Like talent scouts for new business ideas, when Dosani and Raj find a promising new company that’s trying to help people with financial challenges like buying a home, getting affordable insurance, or accessing government benefits, they invest $1 million in that company to help them grow.
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The founders previously worked together at another company called Accion Venture Lab that did similar work. Dosani helped create Afghanistan’s first mobile payment system, and Raj worked in microlending in India. While working together previously, they invested in over 50 companies, including some that became extremely successful. They’ve been working on gathering money for ResilienceVC for about 18 months and completed their fundraising in late 2024.
Many Americans struggle with money issues. According to the founders, the current financial system doesn’t always work well for everyone. These two founders believe new technology and fresh business approaches can help solve these problems. Unlike the earlier dot-com hype, there are solid fundamentals that drive investor confidence in fintechs today. From increased mobile banking to a digitally agile customer. Of course, these changes come with a price for these fintechs — stricter regulations such as the open banking rules of 2024, but leading to long term gains.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has been one of the most proactive agencies on the compliance front. For example, requiring small lenders to report lending data for increased transparency. The use of AI in fintech is also speculated to undergo greater scrutiny. In 2024, about 7 years after Madden v. Midland, The Center for Responsible Lending, urged bank regulators to end bank-fintech partnerships that engage in predatory lending, or operate in violation of consumer protection laws.
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With everything that’s dynamic, they plan to invest in 25 companies total with this $56 million. So far, they’ve invested in eight companies, and 75% of these are led by founders from underrepresented groups. For about half the companies they invest in, they plan to invest even more money later if they do well. Few of these companies include PartnerSlate, providing small businesses in the food and beverage space connections with contract manufacturers, Mirza, working through employers and Medicaid Managed Care Organizations to help employees learn about childcare benefits and Earlybird, helping parents save smarter.