Inclusive Fintech Lab
Venture Lab | Inclusive Fintech Lab
Building financial and climate resilience through inclusive fintech
Globally, 1.4B people are unbanked and 3.3B are vulnerable to climate change. We believe AI and crypto/Web3 can help expand access to financial tools and build new models for financial and climate resilience.
Our Focus
Launch real world AI and web3 products to build new models for inclusive fintech
This call for proposals invites early‑stage startups to join Mercy Corps Ventures’ Ventures Lab in tackling financial exclusion through AI. With up to $50,000 in equity‑free funding, we’re looking for solutions that expand access to credit, insurance, savings, and remittances for unbanked, climate‑vulnerable populations in Africa, Latin America, and Asia. Apply by December 1, 2025.
Vehicles
We run open calls for proposals to democratize access to grant (non-dilutive) capital for entrepreneurs and startups.
Currently, the AI for Financial Resilience call for proposals is open. Subscribe to our newsletter to be the first to hear about future funding opportunities.
Ecosystem Insights
We aggregate and analyze data from our calls for proposals and publish anonymized ecosystem insights to help the startup community understand emerging trends, opportunities, and approaches to building financial and climate resilience.
Based on 800+ proposals across four funding rounds, our latest insights from the Crypto For Good Fund IV highlight where and how web3 builders are advancing financial and climate resilience in emerging markets—from ReFi and humanitarian aid to MSME finance and on/off ramps.
Launches
Through our open calls, we work with selected pilot partners to co-create and launch first-of-a-kind pilots. Our pilots aim to test innovative solutions, build evidence, de-risk innovation, and help unlock new capital for high-impact solutions. We share our pilot designs and learning agendas so others can follow the progress and learn alongside us.
Climate shocks are becoming financial shocks for millions of small businesses. Mercy Corps Ventures is supporting Atram and Fortune Credit in testing whether AI-powered climate alerts, preparedness support, and emergency liquidity can help MSMEs prepare earlier, recover faster, and build long-term resilience.
Mercy Corps Ventures, in partnership with Anzi Finance, Origino, PrimaryX, and Grassi, is launching a groundbreaking pilot to use blockchain-backed grain tokenization and credit guarantees
Mercy Corps Ventures, together with Regini Finance and Mr. Green Africa, is piloting a stablecoin-based savings tool accessible through WhatsApp and USSD. This tool enables informal waste collectors in Kenya to start saving from as little as $2.70 and strengthen their financial resilience against inflation, climate shocks, and income volatility.
Mercy Corps Ventures has partnered with BlockBima, Fortune Credit, Shamba Network, and RiskShield to launch a pilot in Kenya testing blockchain-powered parametric rainfall insurance embedded in microloans for MSMEs.
inX is piloting smart contract–based weather index insurance in Kenya, exploring how blockchain can automate payouts, improve transparency, and build trust for smallholder farmers facing climate risk. The pilot tests whether faster, more reliable insurance can strengthen farmer resilience to extreme weather.
Endlines
Following Impact Measurement & Management best practices, we transparently share successes, challenges, and lessons from our pilots, alongside key data. We hope these insights can help others learn from our experiences, build on what works, and support further scale-up.
Mercy Corps Ventures, in partnership with BlockBima, piloted rainfall-indexed insurance embedded into working capital loans for informal traders in Kenya, testing how automated payouts could strengthen financial resilience and improve access to climate protection.
Mercy Corps Ventures shares new results from scaling a blockchain-enabled anticipatory cash transfer model in Kenya, showing how faster, more frequent payouts can improve financial resilience for pastoralist households facing climate stress.
In Cameroon, Mercy Corps Ventures and REasy piloted a stablecoin-based cross-border payment solution for micro-merchants. Reaching over 900 traders, the pilot enabled them to move more than US$5 million in inventory purchases from Asia while reducing transaction costs by 75%. Sixty-four percent of participants reported higher revenues, with nearly a quarter seeing profit increases above 20%. Results point to strong demand for faster, more affordable payment rails that can strengthen small business resilience amid climate and market shocks.
In Ghana, Mercy Corps Ventures partnered with Haraka and Grameen Foundation to test blockchain-powered microloans for women’s savings groups. No apps, no crypto wallets, no collateral. The result? Faster, cheaper credit in local stablecoins helping over 500 borrowers — 90% of them women — grow businesses and build resilience.
Mercy Corps Ventures partnered with Quipu and Anzi Finance to pilot a DeFi credit solution for Colombian microentrepreneurs. Using AI‑driven credit scoring and decentralized stablecoin capital, the pilot issued 313 loans averaging $108 to underserved entrepreneurs—86% reported better climate resilience, and 80% saw income growth.
