SXSW Startups: Leaf Supports Refugees

The Forrest Four-Cast: February 8, 2018

50 startups from around the world have been selected as finalists for the 2018 SXSW Accelerator Pitch Event on March 10 and 11. Winners in 10 categories will be honored at the Accelerator Award Ceremony at 7 pm Sunday, March 11, at the Hilton Austin. The SXSW Accelerator Pitch Event takes place within the Startup & Tech Sectors track of programming.

A finalist in the Payment and FinTech Technology category, Leaf offers a safe way for refugees to protect and transport savings while escaping conflict. It provides financial services to the stateless and excluded by creating a virtual bank through blockchain technology. Instead of using a multi-currency cash system that attracts the attention of thieves and corrupt border guards, refugees can utilize the security and convenience of a virtual currency through a mobile phone to secure assets while in flight. By facilitating the movement and storage of assets, Leaf reduces the risk of theft and creates economic identities.

From their home base in Nashville, Tenn., the Leaf team will travel to Austin to make their pitch at 11 am Sunday, March 11, in the Hilton Austin, Salon AB. Interview questions were answered by Nat Robinson (back row, farthest left), the CEO of this startup.

What is the competitive advantage of Leaf?We have an incredible team with experience across social entrepreneurship, financial services, technology, East Africa, and working with refugees. We uniquely understand the challenges and opportunities of our market and the need for technology to change how people save and move money around the world. We’re equipped to bring financial services to those who the formal banking system typically excludes.

What inspires your team to work harder?There are two billion people around the world without access to financial services and 165 million refugees and people who could become refugees at any point. That is a big problem with no easy solution. More information click here