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Citi announced a $200 million Impact Fund dedicated to making equity investments in U.S.-based companies that strive to achieve measurable social and financial outcomes. So far, Citi has donated to 11 women and minority-owned businesses, and each individual investment can reportedly reach up to $10 million. The most recent round includes three Black-led startups dedicated to making a positive impact on society, as reported by The Grio. One of the focus areas of the fund were companies with solutions in financial inclusion. Clerkie, one of the three recipients, is an AI financial planner that helps users escape debt and build credit. It was founded by Guy Assad with the purpose of providing financial literacy and democracy for middle class Americans. The second recipient, Perch is also an app that focuses on solutions in financial inclusion. Founded in 2019 by Michael Broughton, Perch was created as a way for users to build credit through their already recurring expenses such as rent...
Loop — an Insurtech startup led by John Henry and Carey Anne Nadeau — announced today that it has raised $3.25 million in seed funding. According to its website, Loop is “building an inclusive future for auto insurance.” In their announcement, they stated: “Loop, a B-Corp auto insurance MGA that leverages AI, big data, and telematics to create more fairly priced insurance products, announced today it has closed a $3.25M seed round led by Freestyle VC, with participation from Blue Fog Capital, Fontinalis Capital Partners, Concrete Rose, Uprising Ventures, and Backstage Capital.” After the events surrounding the death of George Floyd, Nadeau and Henry partnered in July of 2020 to embark on something more meaningful. “We believe there’s a large market opportunity in pricing people more fairly and building a community-first brand in the auto insurance space,” Henry said in a statement. Nadeau, co-founder and co-CEO of Loop, also added: “The technology and data to assess risk more...
Gentem , a health services reimbursement company, recently closed its initial round of venture capital funding with an impressive $3.7 million. The funds signal good news and speedy growth for a company that is less than one year old, placing Gentem on the fast track to becoming an invaluable contribution to the healthcare industry. If not for the vision of one aspiring doctor, Gentem may never have come to be. A passion for patient care led Fisayo Ositelu — MD, CEO, and co-founder of Gentem — to pursue his dream of becoming a doctor. However, his clinical experiences led to the realization that patient care was only one major aspect of becoming a physician. The role was also fraught with time-consuming billing issues and other administrative complexities. While Ositelu went on to obtain the medical degree, he stopped short of practicing when he conferred with other physician friends who noted the same frustrations he had. The “physician fatigue” that they observed is underscored by...