A Look Inside CAFE’s 2025 Spring Accelerator

The Spring 2025 Fintech Accelerator brought together mission-driven fintech founders with innovative solutions to improve financial wellness for low-to-moderate-income communities. Over two months, founders from across the U.S. gained valuable industry knowledge through workshops, coaching, and direct access to investors and financial institutions in the fintech space. The fintechs we work with already have a product built, in-market, and have financial institution customers, and are ready to scale. Many of them have been through other accelerator programs – and wanted to join CAFE for the community and the banking, investor, regulator and industry leader relationships they get out of the program.

📸 Program Snapshot

Hybrid format for 2 months (virtual + 3-day in-person in DE)
Focus: Scale company growth through mentorship, industry expertise, and connections within the financial services sector
Startups Served: 6 growth-ready fintech companies each cohort

🤝 Spring 2025 Cohort Companies & Participants

🧠Expert Led Industry Sessions

Throughout the program, founders met with experts across fintech, AI, compliance, cybersecurity, and more. These sessions offered actionable advice from leaders who have built, scaled, and supported some of their industry’s most successful ventures. Sessions included:

American Fintech Council CEO Insights – Phil Goldfeder
Business Strategy with Delaware SBDC – Sarah Mailloux and Lou DiNetta
Elevator Pitches – Ellyn Herbert
Regulatory Compliance – Rachel Rodman and Prat Vallabhaneni
GenAI for Fintechs – Harry Wang
Selling to Regulated Financial Institutions – Nirbhay Kumar
LinkedIn Growth Strategy ––Michael Kainatsky
Building High Value Partnerships with Financial Institutions– Jamie Scott Berniker
GenAI for Growth – Bob Mitton
Innervation Finance – Mark Ferguson
J.P. Morgan Cap Table Management – Alan Gould, Ben Bartolome
Cybersecurity for Fintechs– Jake Blacksten
Credit Unions:The Hidden Engine Behind Fintech Scale – Julie Esser

💼CAFE Connections: Investors, Banks, & Financial Institutions

Each week, founders met both one-on-one and in small groups with investors, banks, and CDFIs committed to responsible innovation. These curated meetings offered introductions, product feedback, and new partnership opportunities with institutions aligned to the founders’ and CAFE’s impact goals.

Best Egg – Amy Stengel
UD Data Science Institute – Michael Blaustein
J.P. Morgan – Ben Bartolome and Bob Hart
NayaOne – Ambar Vitelli
Wells Fargo – Nadia van de Walle, Veronica Genao
BNY Mellon – Dexter Wilson, Ryan Chensen
Calvert Impact – Eric Heisner
WACIF – Jessica Randolph
BankTech Ventures– Brandon Oliver, Pam Kaur, Katie Quilligan
ResilienceVC – Bryson Hearne, Vikas Raj
Laconia Capital – Mirit Lugassi
JAM FINTOP – Stephen Schroeder, Cooper Winrich
Wolf & Company, P.C.– Cristina Palladino, Cynthia Boehmer
Cohen Circle – Amanda Abrams, Corinne Bortniker
American Bankers Association – Ryan Jackson, Samah Chowdhury
Curql/ gener8tor– Rowan Hume
ICBA – Wayne Miller
Fiserv – Sovdeep Das

🎯Coaching and Mentors

Our founders benefited from expert guidance and personalized support throughout the accelerator program. Weekly group coaching sessions provided space to troubleshoot challenges, refine strategies, and build leadership skills alongside seasoned CAFE mentors. These dedicated experts brought deep industry knowledge and practical insights to help the companies grow their businesses and impact.

Harsh Daiya
People, Process, and Platform with Ila Eckhoff
Jessica Chen
Lena McDearmid
Innervation Finance – Mark Ferguson
Mark Freudenthal
Beyond the Hype: Building AI-Powered Fintech that Matters with Theo Lau
Payal Rohira
Sanjit Singh
Group Coaching with Shefali Shah

Check out what the cohort had to say about their Fintech Accelerator program experience and find out how to apply here: www.ftcafe.org/apply. See what companies have been through the CAFE Accelerator and are part of our growing community here: www.ftcafe.org/accelerator.