Sheena Allen announced the closure of a business supporting unbanked communities.
Since 2018, Allen has been the founder of CapWay, a mobile bank inspired by his upbringing in Terry, MS, a small town near Jackson, where there was only one bank at the time.
“Jackson has one of the highest rates of unbanked residents in the United States,” Allen said previously. AFROTECH™. “I knew very well people who did not have equitable or adequate access to traditional financial services and products. »
In creating a solution, CapWay offered savings tools and allowed users to cash checks, open checking accounts and send money from their phones, as reported by AFROTECH™.
Allen also believed the fintech company’s offerings aimed at underserved communities were essential in 2018, given that she felt this area had been neglected by Silicon Valley.
“Silicon Valley’s definition of real-world problems and everyone else’s definition of real-world problems are not the same,” Allen said. “They live in such a bubble.”
Fast forward to 2024, and CapWay’s efforts have ended. Even though he received nearly $800,000 in funding investors including Backstage Capital, Fund without fear, and Khosla Ventures, Remarks TechCrunch, tLack of venture capital appears to be a factor in Allen’s decision, article says common on LinkedIn.
“There is still a lot of work to be done in the area of financial inclusion, but I am not yet convinced that those who can write a check are prepared to write a large enough check or have the patience to do so. It will take to see change, especially among Black and Brown fintech founders,” Allen wrote on LinkedIn. “It will take more than a few million dollars and a few years!” It’s a long game. (That being said, make sure to support startups like Goalsetter/Tanya Van Court). »
She added: “Yes, we have dealt with a lot of investors who said no because they had “already invested in the other black-owned debit card company.” Some said it verbatim, some didn’t, but we got it…a lot. Or they thought we were so far behind in the amount collected that it was a waste of cost.
Despite CapWay’s closure, Allen’s work in fintech is far from over. She plans to maintain a presence in the sector and hints that a new startup may be in the works.
“I love building. I love creating,” she said. “I will continue to work in the financial inclusion space to some extent because it is not only a passion of mine, but I know there is still has a lot of work to do Mainly, I’m in the ideation stage of what my next startup could be. I’ve also been looking at some potential EIR opportunities at venture capital firms so I can. learn on the other side Nothing is set in stone, but I have confidence in the journey and I am ready for what comes next.