LFI: Digital Solutions for Financial Inclusion of Rural Communities 2025

The Laboratory on Financial Inclusion is a platform that articulates the Fintech ecosystem and brings together the public and private sectors, entrepreneurs and investors in order to promote business opportunities, encourage the interaction of members of the financial and entrepreneurial ecosystems, and provide concrete solutions to development needs raised by the partners of this initiative.

Objectives

• Promote innovative technological solutions that contribute to improve financial inclusion of vulnerable groups and MSMEs in Latin America and the Caribbean.
• Scale and replicate solutions focused on financial inclusion of vulnerable groups and MSMEs to other countries in the region.
• Promote the generation of business opportunities and investment agreements with the private sector to strengthen the selected ventures.
• Strengthen the Fintech entrepreneurial ecosystem with a focus on inclusion, financial education and development of the financial system in the region.

Categories

• Solutions to improve the financial and digital education and capabilities of rural communities.
• Solutions for the design of financial products and services for rural communities.
• Solutions with impact on entrepreneurship and productivity of MSMEs in rural communities.
• Govtech solutions that facilitate the interaction between the State and rural communities.

Prizes and Rewards

• Selected ventures will have the opportunity to present their initiatives at the virtual Pitch Day on November 18 or 19, 2025. This event offers unparalleled visibility and the opportunity to present and network with key decision makers from partner organizations.
• During the Pitch Day, 8 winning projects will be selected to access prestigious acceleration, investment readiness and matchmaking programs. These programs, which will begin in January 2026 and end in August 2026, will provide personalized mentoring from industry experts, strategic guidance in impact monitoring and evaluation, and extensive networking opportunities. Participants will also benefit from increased exposure within the venture ecosystem, paving the way for future investment, business and partnership opportunities.
• In the first phase, the 8 winning proposals will participate in the acceleration program tailored to the needs of each of the ventures. This program will start in January 2026 and will end in May of the same year.
• Subsequently, depending on their performance in the acceleration program, the winners will have the possibility of being chosen within the group of 8 winners that will participate in the investment readiness and matchmaking program. This program will start at the end of May 2026 and will culminate in August of the same year.

Eligibility Criteria

• The call is aimed at companies that are legally constituted and operate in a CAF member country
• Applicants must be developing technology-based projects focused on financial inclusion and literacy, specifically in one of the categories and subcategories presented in section 5 of this document.
• Applicants’ projects must be actively operating in the market, generating revenue and be in one of the following stages:
  • Revenue: the solution has paid users but is not yet complete enough to make active sales, has not yet reached the break-even point.
  • Growth/Scaling: the solution is polished, has reached the break-even point and the team is actively selling/distributing.
  •  Expansion: consolidated sales and expansion to other countries.

For more information, visit CAF.