1960s

Accion's Early Days

Accion was founded in 1961 by a UC Berkeley law student. We began with hands-on work in Latin America; the first group of 30 Americans worked in urban centers around Venezuela.

1970s

Microlending

By the early 1970s, Accion’s leaders were beginning to focus on the lack of economic opportunity in Latin American cities and began issuing small loans.

1980s-90s

Expansion

Over the next decade, Accion helped start microfinance programs in 14 countries in Latin America with a loan repayment rate of 97 percent.

2000s

Expanding Globally

Throughout the 2000s, Accion extended operations into India, Sub-Saharan Africa, and established the Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI).

2010s

New Initiatives & Programs

Accion launched its seed-stage investment initiative Accion Venture Lab and participated in the launch of the Accion Frontier Inclusion Fund.

2020s

Building resilience

Accion is working to build an inclusive recovery from the COVID-19 crisis, which severely affected low-income families and small businesses globally.

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Latest news

Press Release • Apr 11, 2023
Accion and Mastercard Renew Partnership, Aim to Connect 10.5 Million People to Digital Financial Services
News • Mar 16, 2023
Accion Venture Lab bets on ‘embedded finance’ in India, Pakistan and Indonesia
Press Release • Mar 14, 2023
Global Nonprofit Accion Selected for the ImpactAssets 50 2023 List of Fund Managers Delivering Social and Environmental Impact
News • Mar 13, 2023
Financial Inclusion with Wade Arnold and Michael Schlein
Press Release • Mar 07, 2023
Trukkr raises $6.4 million from Accion Venture Lab and Sturgeon Capital to digitize Pakistan’s trucking industry
Press Release • Feb 27, 2023
Indonesian AgTech Startup Semaai Closes a Bridge Funding round, Bringing Total raised to US$2.9 million
News • Feb 08, 2023
General Catalyst, Accion, others back Magma
Press Release • Feb 08, 2023
B2B manufacturing platform Magma raises $3.3 million in Seed Funding from General Catalyst, Accion Venture Lab, and top Operator Angels
Press Release • Feb 01, 2023
Accion Receives Grant from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation to Increase Livelihood Opportunities for Refugee Women in Ethiopia and Uganda
News • Jan 26, 2023
Optimism in the Development of Financial Inclusion & Digitalization of MSMEs (Optimisme Pengembangan Inklusi Keuangan & Digitalisasi UMKM)
News • Jan 20, 2023
How Jasiel Martin-Odoom helped 100+ startups that raised $2.5 billion in funding
News • Dec 29, 2022
From continued capital crunch to shortage of IT talent, what does 2023 hold for African startups?
Press Release • Nov 10, 2022
Digital Adoption Essential for Financial Health and Resilience of Small Businesses Globally
News • Nov 08, 2022
Inclusive fintechs build on gains to help emerging market businesses weather the economic storm
News • Oct 30, 2022
Inclusive Growth for the Future

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