Posted August 18, 2021 in Cohorts
Fall 2021 Cohort
CENTRAL PAYMENTS ANNOUNCES FALL 2021 COHORT FOR FALLS FINTECH
Top Fintech Companies Set to Join Accelerator Program
August 18, 2021 (Sioux Falls, SD) – Central Payments, the South Dakota-based payments leader and fastest growing issuer of prepaid debit cards in the U.S. since 2015*, today announced the group of companies that will join cohort 4 of its Falls Fintech accelerator, the only bank-offered business accelerator program designed to bring early-stage financial technology (fintech) companies to market.
“Our value proposition continues to grow with each cohort and this round is no exception. We’ve added workshops, venture capital seminars, and additional mentorship opportunities to our already best-in-class curriculum. These additions advance our commitment to expediting the path to market for these compelling companies and their partnership Central Payments. We encourage everyone to follow this enticing new group of promising fintech startups as they embark on the journey,” said Nikkee Rhody, Executive Vice President of Strategy & Managing Director of Falls Fintech.
The Fall 2021 Cohort 4 participants include:
FirstRoot
CEO: Luke Hohmann
Head of Product Management: Clint Gossett
HQ: Sunnyvale, CA
FirstRoot is a Benefit Corp that supports schools using Participatory Budgeting, a democratic process in which students are given real money to collaboratively invest in their school. As the students decide how to invest the money they learn important lessons about financial literacy, design thinking, and civics.
Leagueswype
CEO: Darius Grandberry
HQ: Chicago, IL
Leagueswype is a digital payment platform that serves as the trusted one-stop digital wallet where sports bettors can manage all of their payment activity across all service providers within one single and secure application. A safe and secure way to get them playing the games they love more quickly and paid faster when they win.
TruCard
CEO: Asad Ansari
HQ: Herndon, VA & India
TruCard is an asset backed digital currency platform
Kiddie Kredit
CEO: Evan Leaphart
HQ: Miami, FL.
Kiddie Kredit is a financial literacy tool that teaches kids about credit by incentivizing productivity and good behavior. The premise of the app is that the better a child performs their duties/activities, the better their score. We do this by creating a “kredit” score that parallels traditional FICO scoring models.
Greetty
CEO: Maximilian Bolzer
Head of Partnerships: Victoria Plekhannova
HQ: Sacramento, CA & Russia
The Greetty app allows users to create and send unique video messages along with a customized virtual prepaid card as a useful and exciting way to attach money to a virtual congratulations.
“We are thrilled to bring these entrepreneurs to Sioux Falls, the hub of banking and payments card issuing in the U.S.,” said Trent Sorbe, President of Central Payments and Co-founder of Falls Fintech. “The Falls Fintech experience has already proven successful at spring-boarding market readiness for promising startups. Completing the Falls Fintech curriculum, coding to our Open*CP Fintech API Marketplace, and then wrapping up their issuing deal with us is a model that has already shown to greatly accelerate capital raising as investors see the traction gained when two major hurdles are eliminated: a bank issuing deal and technical integration into the payments ecosystem.”
Falls Fintech is a 12-week program designed to accelerate market readiness for early-stage fintech companies and promote breakthrough of the last-mile hurdles fintech companies often face today. Cohort 4 kicked off on August 16th. During the 12-week program, the participating companies will receive high-intensity curriculum with an elite network of financial, payment and technology professionals across the globe. The accelerator’s curriculum includes topics such as data security, regulatory compliance, venture capital, and leadership development and will culminate in a demo day attended by sponsors, investors, vendors, and the media.
To learn more about the Fall 2021 Cohort 4 participants, tune in to Episode 4 of Central Payments’ Fintech Brews & News podcast, available on Wednesday, August 25th. Fintech Brews & News is the place to get a behind-the-scenes look at how a market-leading, full-scale, digital payments bank bridges the gaps to bring new and exciting fintech products to market.
About Falls Fintech
Falls Fintech is a custom, 12-week program designed to accelerate market readiness for early-stage financial technology startups. The high-intensity curriculum is delivered by a distinguished group of payments, technology, and banking professionals. At the conclusion of Falls Fintech, successful companies will have completed all the necessary steps to come to market with a bank partnership and access to the payments ecosystem through Central Payments and its Open*CP platform.
About Central Payments
Central Payments is the payments subsidiary of Central Bank of Kansas City (CBKC) and is headquartered in Dell Rapids, South Dakota. Central Payments administers payment solutions for partners through its own Open*CP Fintech API MarketplaceSM, one of the only true bank-as-a-service payments platforms and the technology responsible for Central Payments’ rise to the fastest growing prepaid card issuer since 2015.*
Visit central-payments.com and fallsfintech.com for more information.
Member FDIC.
* Source: The Nilson Report, 2015 to 2019.