Zirtue Wins “America’s Got Access”, Money20/20’s New Start-up Pitch Competition with Commerce Ventures
- Zirtue won $100,000 live on the main stage at Money20/20.
- A second prize of $100,000 was won by Remynt following an audience vote.
Las Vegas, Nev., October 23, 2022 -- Money20/20 USA, the world’s leading fintech show, announced that Zirtue won its brand new start-up pitch competition focused on doing good, “America’s Got Access”, in Las Vegas this morning.
America’s Got Access is a specialized start-up competition designed to showcase fintech companies focused on solving challenges around financial inclusion, financial health and enabling diversity, equity and inclusion within fintech.
From hundreds of applicants, the top 9 pitched to the panel of judges live on the main stage at Money20/20 in Las Vegas for a chance to win a free pass to Money20/20, a $100,000 uncapped SAFE investment, and the chance to become part of the Commerce Ventures portfolio.
Zirtue, a relationship-based lending app aiming to drive financial inclusion one relationship at a time, has been crowned the champion of America’s Got Access.
Following a surprise audience vote, a second prize of $100,000 has been won by Remynt, a start-up that empowers consumers to resolve debt while rebuilding their credit, converting charged-off debt into a new credit card and savings account, providing rewards as the debt is repaid.
Scarlett Sieber, Chief Strategy and Growth Officer of Money20/20, commented: “America’s Got Access is a unique competition that shines a light on those companies doing well by doing good. Through our partnership with Commerce Ventures, we wanted to give access to investment and mentorship to those players that otherwise would have found it difficult to turbocharge their businesses. Money20/20 has always celebrated diversity, inclusion and innovative companies that make the world around us a better place and I would like to congratulate our winners, Zirtue and Remynt, for furthering that mission.”
“Financial inclusion is widely recognized as one of the most important engines of economic development and the rise of Fintech is considered a major contributor to increased financial inclusion. As such, I’m incredibly proud to have judged the “America's Got Access” competition at Money20/20.” said Souheil Badran, EVP & COO of Northwestern Mutual.
"At Precursor, we are firm believers that fintech innovation is the key to improving the financial lives of many people who are not currently well served by our present financial system. We applaud these founders who bring their talent and passion to change the financial lives of millions of people. It was truly an honor to judge this competition, I look forward to seeing the impact that this group of talented entrepreneurs will bring to our industry,” said Charles Hudson, Managing Partner of Precursor Ventures.
Dan Rosen, Founding Partner of Commerce Ventures, said: “The promise of Fintech that I have always found most compelling is the opportunity to improve the livelihoods of so many by expanding access to financial services and solutions. It's clear that all these founders possess the passion, focus and expertise to build exciting businesses which have an enormous, positive impact, and I look forward to working with Zirtue and Remynt as they grow their companies.”
The Judges:
- Scarlett Sieber, Chief Strategy and Growth Officer, Money20/20
- Dan Rosen, Founding Partner, Commerce Ventures
- Sherri Haymond, Executive Vice President, Digital Partnerships, Mastercard
- Charles Hudson, Managing Partner, Precursor Ventures
Special Guests Include: Sheel Mohnot, General Partner, Better Tomorrow Ventures Emmalyn Shaw, Managing Partner, Flourish Ventures Souheil Badran, EVP & COO, Northwestern Mutual Ayesha D’Souza, Head of Venture Investments & Partnerships, Fiserv
Congratulations to all other finalists who got to pitch live on the main stage at Money20/20 in Las Vegas:
- Ashton Keys, Athlytic, an innovative technology-based start-up that connects student-athletes with potential endorsement partners. https://www.athlytic.io/
- Elizabeth Clubb, myFloc, a purpose-built expense management platform to empower older adults to get the support they desire, connect networks of caregivers, prevent elder financial exploitation, and take the financial friction out of caregiving. https://www.myfloc.com/
- Andres Delgado, Orbem Networks, has brought to life the app Xaggo; the worlds first international bill pay app helping people manage bill payments internationally, instantly and safely. This kind of payment will disrupt the remittance market globally. https://xaggo.com/
- Piero Núñez Del Risco, Pana, a cross-border payments and banking start-up for Latinos in USA. https://www.joinpana.com/
- Danielle Pensack, Rightfoot, a start-up that allows hundreds of developers to use its APIs to seamlessly power payments to student debt, credit card debt, and more. https://www.rightfoot.com/
- Amber Buker, Totem, a start-up that is creating pathways to financial inclusion for Native Americans through digital banking. https://www.mytotem.app/
- Carmela Abraham, Xiggit, a web platform and app where small and medium companies offer personal, portable benefits that build wealth and loyalty. http://www.xiggit.com
This competition has been made possible in partnership with Commerce Ventures, Fiserv, Mastercard, and Northwestern Mutual.
You can find out more about America’s Got Access here https://us.money2020.com/experience/startup-americas-got-access.
###
About Money20/20
Launched by industry insiders in 2012, Money20/20 has rapidly become the heartbeat of the global fintech ecosystem. Over the last decade, the most innovative, fast-moving ideas and companies have driven their growth on our platform. Mastercard, Airwallex, J.P. Morgan, SHIELD, GCash, Stripe, Google, VISA, Adyen, and more make transformational deals and raise their global profile with us. Money20/20 attracts leaders from the world’s greatest banks, payments companies, VC firms, regulators, and media platforms: convening to cut industry-shaping deals, build world-changing partnerships, and unlock future-defining opportunities in Las Vegas (27-30 October 2024), Bangkok (22-24 April 2025), and Amsterdam (3-5 June 2025). Money20/20 also recently launched Twentyfold, a Digital Intelligence product containing the deepest and widest repository of fintech startup data in the world. Money20/20 is where the world’s fintech leaders convene to grow their brands. Money20/20 is part of Ascential plc. Follow Money20/20 on X and LinkedIn for show developments and updates. We’re Where Money Does Business.
Follow Money20/20 on X/Twitter for show developments and updates.
You can also find us on LinkedIn at Money20/20.
Contact: press@money2020.com
About Ascential
Ascential delivers specialist information, analytics, and ecommerce optimization platforms to the world's leading consumer brands and their ecosystems.
Our world-class businesses improve performance and solve problems for our customers by delivering immediately actionable information combined with visionary longer-term thinking across Digital Commerce, Product Design, and Marketing. We also serve customers across Retail & Financial Services.
With more than 2,500 employees across five continents, we combine local expertise with a global footprint for clients in over 120 countries. Ascential is listed on the London Stock Exchange.