CAFE Founders Circles – Join to Build, Grow, and Scale Together

Designed for mission-driven fintech founders to accelerate their business growth through peer support, expert guidance, and CAFE’s national network

What are the CAFE Founders Circles?

Founders Circles are exclusive groups of 6-10 fintech founders looking to scale their business and mission-driven impact through a support network. We combine peer coaching with insights from industry experts on valuable topics.

Stay tuned for the next date we are offering Founders Circles!

 

Peer Support

Based on the value we’ve seen in our flagship accelerator, founders share experiences, challenges, and solutions in a supportive, mission-driven environment.

Expert Insights

Gain valuable relationships and coaching from industry leaders who provide guidance tailored to growing your business and impact.

Targeted Growth Strategies

Develop and implement strategies that focus on scaling your fintech solutions within financial institutions and obtaining funding effectively.

National Network Access

Leverage CAFE’s extensive network of FIs, investors, and industry leaders to build partnerships and expand your reach within the financial services industry.

"CAFE Founders Circle brought together a highly intentional group of fintech founders at different stages of their journeys, many of whom I will continue to stay in touch with well beyond the cohort. The guest speakers were clearly hand-selected and consistently shared practical, sales-focused insights that we were able to apply immediately. Throughout the program, we refined our sales process, sharpened our marketing collateral, and were introduced to dozens of potential partners and institutions. Any fintech founder looking to level up their strategy, network, and execution should strongly consider CAFE Founders Circle."

– Leland Remias, Founder & CEO of Vroombrick

"Awesome CAFE cohort, great people in the program and really engaging content and team - bringing in a truly magnificent support team and founders is powerful."

– Shreenath Regunathan, Founder of Starlight

Summer 2026 Founders Circles

A programmable compliance and governance infrastructure platform that helps
financial institutions, Stablecoin issuers, and tokenized markets enforce regulatory rules in real time and generate machine-verifiable proof of compliance. CompliLedger helps enable safer,
more transparent, and more trustworthy digital financial systems, which can expand secure
access to modern financial services and reduce systemic risk for underserved and
low-to-moderate income communities.

Maranda Harris (Founder/CEO)

A financial wellness app for unpaid family caregivers to track their expenses,
maximize their tax benefits and access resources to support their caregiving journey.

Loryn Carter (Founder/CEO)

A software platform that helps financial advisors, tax professionals, and individual
equity holders model complex stock compensation decisions, including ISOs, NSOs, RSUs, ESPPs, AMT, and concentrated stock scenarios, with structured, reviewable outputs. EquityNav advances financial wellness for low and moderate income equity holders by making stock compensation decisions clearer and more accessible, helping people who often lack
specialized advisory and tax support avoid costly tax mistakes, understand their options, and
make better decisions around exercising, selling, and holding employer equity.

Nick Knepper (Founder/CEO)

GetC is a SaaS-based, AI-powered platform enabling banks and their customers to get
on-chain by transforming traditional payments and loyalty into DeFi and stablecoin-powered
products and services. GetC leverages blockchain and AI to reduce the friction and costs of traditional payment and value rails, enabling the next billion people to access digital assets, stablecoins, and on-chain financial services.

Nihad Nazir (Founder/CEO)

A operational layer that makes stablecoin payments usable for real businesses
instant, milestone and scheduled payments that integrate directly into the tools businesses already use, without Pvium ever holding customer funds. Pvium allows workers gain direct access to global earnings of any size 50 cents or more landing instantly in their own wallet, no longer gated by bank accounts, high transfer minimums, or fees that erode their pay.

Femi Olowonefa (Founder/CEO)

With 57% of the workforce currently navigating layoffs and career transitions, Richuel
partners with companies, workforce boards, and financial institutions to provide the missing
financial care layer for the new shift economy. Through smart forecasting, AI coaching, and
expert guidance, we replace uncertainty with clarity for the 80% of workers who are struggling to manage the ongoing cycles of change alone

Kris Vann (Founder/CEO)

Vigilic replaces the outdated rule-based AML monitoring at community banks and
credit unions with a machine-learning engine that surfaces real financial crime instead of
drowning teams in false alerts. By cutting compliance costs and false positives at the
community institutions LMI families rely on, Vigilic helps keep those banks viable and protects legitimate low-income customers from being wrongly flagged, frozen, or de-banked.

Shaan Revuru (Founder/CEO)

A AI-native commercial lending platform built for community financial institutions
doing complex lending that enterprise vendors left behind.” When community financial
institutions can close complex loans faster, the small businesses, family farms, and
first-generation entrepreneurs in underserved communities keep access to the lender that
knows their name.

Aaron Colcord (Founder/CEO)

How CAFE Circles Empower Founders

Build strong, lasting peer relationships.

Access to seasoned fintech industry experts.

Learn best practices in fundraising, scaling, selling to financial institutions, and compliance.

Belong to a trusted national network known for personalized founder support.

CENTER FOR ACCELERATING FINANCIAL EQUITY - CAFE located at Fintech Building, University of Delaware Star Campus

Boost visibility through CAFE’s brand recognition.

Gain clarity and confidence in navigating your founder journey.

How it Works

Step 1

Apply via F6S

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Step 2

Interview with CAFE

Step 3

Get Matched to Your Circle

Step 4

Join us In-Person or Virtually for Kickoff

Step 5

Attend Online Sessions

Circle Types

Our program is tailored to meet the needs of founders at different stages and locations. Each “circle” is organized by location and business stage. For our second launch we will be hosting CAFE Circles nationwide.

1. Virtual Circles: Nationwide

Who Should Apply?

We’re looking for U.S.-based fintech startups that meet the following criteria: 

  • Have a product built and in-market and are ready to scale

  • Have an initial customer base (including selling to financial institutions).

  • Mission-driven: once your product gets in the hands of people, it improves their financial wellness, especially for low- to moderate- income (LMI) individuals

Join our exclusive circles designed for game changers ready to make a difference. Open to all mission-driven fintech founders with products that improve financial wellness.

Empowering Fintech Innovation Nationwide

At CAFE, our mission is to drive positive change in the financial services industry for low-to-moderate income (LMI) communities, through financial technology innovation and partnerships. With a proven track record in accelerating fintech startups, we provide the tools, connections, and expertise through our network needed to transform innovative ideas into impactful solutions.

CENTER FOR ACCELERATING FINANCIAL EQUITY - CAFE located at Fintech Building, University of Delaware Star Campus

Partner with Us for Impact

Join us in fostering the next generation of fintech leaders through sponsorships. Our sponsorship opportunities allow financial institutions to play a pivotal role in supporting the CAFE Founders Circles and driving innovation.

Partner with Us