After a live pitch final held in person and virtually worldwide, MyPocketSkill became the winner of the 2021 Female FinTech competition supported by Deutsche Bank to champion female entrepreneurs.
MyPocketSkill is an award-winning digital technology and consulting company. Founded in 2017, its goal is to help young people aged 13 to 21 become more financially capable by enabling them to earn, save and learn about money. Its platform connects young people to paid opportunities with households and businesses.
Co-Founder and Co-CEO Zara Ransley said: “Winning this global women’s FinTech competition is a true vote of confidence in MyPocketSkill’s innovative approach to learning by doing to create the next financially capable generation. MyPocketSkill is going through a period of rapid growth. and this award will give us access to incredible resources to further develop our platform. ”
The competition, hosted by Deutsche Bank, Atos, Google Cloud and TechQuartier, invites fintech companies that were founded by or include women in their executive ranks to present their business case. The winner wins a prize that will be adapted to his needs and will allow him to access the programs and resources of the host companies.
Deutsche Bank Judge Gil Perez, Chief Innovation Officer and Head of Cloud & Innovation Network, said: “I was incredibly impressed with the presentations from all of the finalists, and can’t wait to see them all. grow and succeed. In the end, we had to make a tough decision and chose MyPocketSkill. They provided a fantastic and compelling business case. ”
The competition aims to promote gender diversity in financial technologies, to share the experience and collective resources of host companies and to create a network for fintechs founded by women. A recent Harvard Business Review study found that female-led startups received only 2.3% of venture capital funding in 2020. Lack of gender equality in startup funding drives further problems. It exponentially affects the overall picture of jobs for women. It is also likely to slow the recovery and efforts to tackle inequality. However, an analysis by the Boston Consulting Group found that when startups led by women are funded, they are more likely to be successful. They “ultimately generate higher income – more than twice as much per dollar invested,” he said.
Perez said: “Gender diversity is critical to the success of organizations in all sectors. All the evidence shows that more diverse teams perform better and adapt more quickly to a changing environment. In financial services in particular, women are still under-represented, and this is something we hope initiatives like the Female FinTech competition are a step in the right direction and help inspire and to support women in this industry.
The full list of finalists and judges is available below as well as on this website.
Finalists
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Laura Pomfret – Financial (United Kingdom)
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Sophia Stone – IndieTech (Canada)
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Heather-Anne Hubbell – Phundex (United Kingdom)
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Hanifa Azri – Regal 38i83 (United Kingdom)
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Zara Ransley – MyPocketSkill (UK)
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Paola Blanco- Prestapolis (Colombia)
Judges
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Gil Perez, Global Chief Innovation Officer and Head of Cloud & Innovation Network, Deutsche Bank
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Laurence Lafont, Vice President, Segment Sales, EMEA, Google Cloud
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Lucas Schmitt, Head of Innovation Products, TechQuartier
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Carol Houle, Global Head of Consulting & Marketing, Financial Services & Insurance, Atos