Meet CAFE: Accelerating the Growth of Fintech Startups

New fintech startups aiming to advance financial health and wellness for low-to-moderate income individuals and underserved communities no longer need to navigate the startup journey alone. The non-profit Center for Advancing Financial Equity (CAFE), located within the Fintech Innovation Hub at the University of Delaware's STAR campus, offers support through its bi-annual fintech accelerator. This initiative, backed by numerous partners such as the Small Business Administration, Discover, the Small Business Development Center (SBDC), and the American Bankers Association, aims to identify, support, and grow fintech innovations that address financial equity. Each cohort selects just six companies from hundreds of applicants.

This past spring, Parlay and Stratyfy were among the chosen six. Parlay aims to improve small business loan applications, while Stratyfy offers interpretable AI solutions that help financial institutions make more accurate, efficient, and fair financial decisions in areas like credit risk, fraud, and compliance.

Acceptance into CAFE requires fintechs to already be established with a functioning product.

"These companies are in the market; the products are built," said Kristen Castell, Managing Director of CAFE. "They already have customers, some of whom are enterprise customers like banks, and they have full-time teams and have often raised funds."

Despite their existing progress, startups in the accelerator still need significant help with industry connections, scaling distribution, and building partnerships. The eight-week program includes both on-site sessions at the Fintech Innovation Hub in Delaware and virtual sessions. Startups from across the U.S. are eligible, and the unique experience helps founders build strong bonds.

Last week, the Fall cohort took a field trip to the headquarters of Best Egg (formerly Marlette) in Wilmington, Delaware, learning about the company's growth from a startup in 2014 to a leading fintech today. Additional opportunities include meeting with the American Bankers Association and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in Washington, D.C., and pitching to investors at conferences like RevTech Labs in Charlotte.

The accelerator provides participants with invaluable access to guidance from fellow fintechs, bankers, regulators, and the American Fintech Council, helping them shorten the learning curve significantly. The program culminates with an in-person demo day at the Fintech Innovation Hub, where the cohort presents to investors, bankers, academics, industry leaders, and non-profits.

Castell, a former banker with experience at JPMorgan and BlackRock, who also dabbled in fintech entrepreneurship through her interest in impact investing, is passionate about her work with CAFE. "It’s been an incredible opportunity to build the organization, work with our partners, and bring in stakeholders," she said. "We’re just getting started."

The Fall cohort includes Carvertise, GivingCredit, Kredit Academy, Odynn, Salus, and Prismm. Sponsors of the accelerator include the American Bankers Association (ABA), Siegfried Advisory, Delaware Prosperity Partnership (DPP), Wolf & Co, Delaware Tech Park, deBanked, and Discover Financial Services.