Deadline: October 01, 2025
SHIFT (Scaling Holistic Inclusion in Fintech Transformation) is a migration-focused support program designed for growth-stage fintechs in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and Asia.
The program focuses on results-based grants, tailored mentorship, investor connections, global visibility, strengthening businesses, scaling inclusive financial solutions, and driving lasting impact.
SHIFT is open to fintechs or embedded fintechs that are growth-stage, revenue-generating, and fundraising-ready. Applicants must be based in or operating in Sub-Saharan Africa, MENA, or Asia. Ventures should already serve women affected by migration or be willing to pivot services tailored to their financial needs. Women affected by migration include women who migrate internally or across borders, women left behind when family members migrate, and women from migration-impacted communities such as remittance-dependent regions.
Selected ventures will receive a $10,000 results-based grant, flexible funding support, mentorship from migration industry experts, investor and partner access, and entry to the SIGMA platform for growth tracking and impact measurement. Participants will also benefit from capacity building in gender-inclusive practices, knowledge-sharing opportunities through media features, and global visibility through Seedstars’ networks. Onsite regional ecosystem events will further enable networking and partnership development.
SHIFT builds on the foundation of the Financial Innovations for Women Affected by Migration (FIWAM) program, which supported 30 fintechs in Sub-Saharan Africa, MENA, and Asia. FIWAM demonstrated strong potential, with participants raising $2.7 million in new funding and reaching 275,000 migrant women. However, it also revealed the gap for more investor-ready, growth-stage companies—an issue that SHIFT seeks to directly address.
The program is implemented by Seedstars and iGravity and funded through the Impact-Linked Fund for Gender-Inclusive Fintechs (ILF for GIF) under the Impact-Linked Finance Fund, supported by partners including the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and Austrian Development Cooperation (ADC).
For more information, visit Seedstars.
