The Accion Frontier Inclusion Fund, the world’s first global fintech fund for the underserved consumers and businesses in emerging markets, has reached final closing at $141m.

The Fund will focus on emerging markets in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and Asia that have demonstrated the greatest potential for inclusive fintech.

“Three billion people are left out of, or poorly served by, the global financial system. The Accion Frontier Inclusion Fund will help address this,” said Michael Schlein, CEO and President of Accion. 

“The Fund will support innovators using new technologies to help create a financial system that works for everyone. By focusing on both social impact and financial returns, we believe the Fund shows the importance of harnessing the capital markets to solve society’s most challenging problems,” he said.

The Fund’s anchor investor, general partner, and sponsor is Accion, a global nonprofit organization.

In addition, the Fund received commitments from an array of leading institutional investors: AXA Impact Fund; Blue Haven Initiative; Calvert Equity Portfolio; the Dalio Foundation; FMO; Heifer Foundation; IDP Foundation; IFC; JPMorgan Chase & Co.; The Lemelson Foundation; Mastercard; MetLife; PG Impact Investments; Private Market Impact Fund; Prudential Financial; Quona Capital; The Sandy River Charitable Foundation; Skopos Impact Fund; TIAA Investments, an affiliate of Nuveen; Triodos Fair Share Fund and Triodos Microfinance Fund, funds managed by Triodos Investment Management; Wallace Global Fund; and William A. Gee.

“The diversity and caliber of investors the Fund has attracted and the capital they have put behind it is an unambiguous validation of our investment thesis and a milestone for both financial inclusion and the impact investing industry,” said Monica Brand Engel, Founding Partner at Quona Capital. 

“By identifying and supporting the most promising business models, the Fund can produce a demonstration effect that inspires others to pursue inclusive new technologies and compete in traditionally underserved communities,” she said.

To-date, the Accion Frontier Inclusion Fund has made a number of investments.

In Africa, the Fund’s portfolio include Yoco, a mobile point of sale and value added service solution for micro and small merchants, to help expand the acceptance environment for digital payments; and Eseye, a global Internet of Things service provider enabling pay-as-you-go asset financing and access to prepaid utilities to underserved consumers in emerging markets.

According to the fund manager, the pipeline is “dynamic and growing”. 

The Fund plans announcements of additional investments in exciting innovators expanding the quality and availability of financial services in emerging markets.