ResilienceVC, a new seed stage fintech venture capital firm based in Washington, DC, has announced its $56 million debut fund.
Founded in 2023 by Tahira Dosani and Vikas Raj, ResilienceVC's mission is a simple one to help fintech companies dedicated to helping Americans find financial stability. They are beginning to write checks on businesses that help people deal with challenges, such as becoming homeowners, having affordable insurance and accessing government benefits.
“We are fully invested in visionary startup entrepreneurs who are ultimately leveraging new technologies and new business models to promote the financial resilience of all Americans,” Raj said. “For many Americans, the financial system isn't just doing what it should be.”
The pair have a history of investing in companies that helps boost economic inclusion. They previously worked together for several years as former co-management directors of Accion Venture Lab before set out to launch ResilienceVC. Examples of their achievements include helping Dosani help launch Afghanistan's first mobile payments platform. Raj was an early employee of a microlenting company in Bangalore, India.
With over eight years of investments at Accion, a global seed stage fintech investor in the US and developing markets, the duo has invested in over 50 companies, including many unicorns. Dosani and Raj have raised capital for about 18 months for ResilienceVC's first fund, with a final ending being held in the second half of 2024.
ResilienceVC plans to make 25 investments from the fund. The pair is described as “oversubscribe” with a first goal of $50 million. Portfolio companies include Alice, Chis, Early Bird, Forwire, Mirza, OS Benefits, Partner Rates, and Suma. The initial investment per company is approximately $1 million. To date, 75% (or 6 out of 8) of portfolio companies have been undervalued.
“We expect it to continue at about 50% of our company and are looking to double our shares in the next round,” Dosani said. “It depends on the performance of the portfolio, but it doubles the winner.”
The company's limited partners are a combination of institutions, banks, family offices, high-net personals and foundations, including MetLife, Skoll Foundation, Ally Financial and others.
In particular, ResilienceVC deliberately has headquartered in what DC Raj tells TechCrunch, allowing it to take advantage of its location and relationships with regulators and policymakers.
“I think it's a key place, especially if you're investing in fintech. This is a time of major changes in the regulatory and policy environment, almost daily changes,” he added. “I think it's very clear that everyone in financial services needs to have a deep connection with decision makers, regulators, policymakers and agency managers. And that's especially true for startups. So we're positioning ourselves here in DC as a conduit to those entities.”
Dosani also believes that its location outside of Silicon Valley gives the company a vantage point to see “the number of founders operating in other cities across the country.”
Overall, with ResilienceVC, I want to defy the trends I saw at Fintech Investing: companies that focus on high-end customers or large companies.
Raj told TechCrunch while building large, profitable businesses at large, profitable businesses, often considered low to medium incomes and American small businesses “are too small, too dangerous, too difficult to serve,” leaving “a really big gap” for investors focusing on startups using new technologies like AI and Embedded Fintech.
“We want to sit in that gap and only invest in the best fintech startups that explicitly serve the mass market,” he said.