RejuvenateA new seed-stage fintech venture capital firm based in Washington, D.C., announced its $56 million first fund, which is dedicated to sharing with TechCrunch.
ResilienceVC’s mission was founded in 2023 by Tahira Dosani and Vikas Raj, and it’s a simple mission: to support fintech companies dedicated to helping Americans find financial stability. It is writing checks to companies that can help people with challenges such as becoming homeowners, getting affordable insurance and getting government benefits.
“We are completely investing in visionary entrepreneurial entrepreneurs who ultimately use new technologies and new business models to drive financial resilience for all Americans,” Raj said. “For many Americans, the financial system is just not doing what they should do.”
Two people have a history of investing in companies that helps increase financial inclusion. They previously worked as a former co-management director at Accion Venture Lab for a few years before leaving to rejuvenate. Examples of its achievements include Dosani helping launch Afghanistan’s first mobile payment platform, and on the ground in the country, Raj set up a microcurrency company in Bangalore, India, which sparked his interest in microcredit and led him to invest in Fintech.
Over eight years of investments in the U.S. and developing markets by fintech investors at the global seed stage, the duo has invested in more than 50 companies, including many unicorns. Dosani and Raj have been raising about 18 months for ResilienceVC’s first fund, with the final closure at the end of 2024.
ResilienceVC plans to make 25 investments from the fund, which the two described as “oversubscribe” with an initial target of $50 million. Portfolio companies include Alice,,,,, chaiz,,,,, Early bird,,,,, hall,,,,, Mirza,,,,, Operating system benefits,,,,, Partnerslateand Suma,other. The initial investment of each company is approximately $1 million. To date, 75% (or one in eight) of its portfolio companies have insufficient founders.
“We hope about 50% of the companies follow and hope to double the stake in the next round,” Dosani said. “It will depend on the performance of the portfolio, but we will double the winner.”
The company’s limited partners are a portfolio of institutions, banks, home offices, high net worth individuals and foundations, including Metropolitan Life, Skoll Foundation and Ally Financial.
It is worth noting that ResilienceVC intends to be based in DC Raj told TechCrunch so it can leverage its location and its relationship with regulators and policy makers.
“We think it’s an important place if you’re particularly investing in fintech. It’s a time of huge change, almost daily change in the regulatory environment and policy environment,” he added. “I think it’s clear that everyone in financial services needs to have a deep connection with policy makers, regulators, policy makers, agency leaders. This is especially true for startups. So we position ourselves in Washington, D.C. as a channel to these entities.”
Dosani also believes that locations outside Silicon Valley give the company an advantage to see “the increasing number of founders operating in other cities across the country.”
Overall, with ResilienceVC, the couple hopes to shock the trend we see in fintech investments: businesses focused on high-net-worth clients or large businesses.
Often, low-income or small American businesses are considered “too small, too risky, too difficult to stay in front of service”, “to…investors stay with startups focused on using new technologies, such as using new technologies, such as using Fintech like AI and Embedded Fintech, “build everyone’s money-making business, and tell everyone, Raj Craj Crain Craunch Crunch.
“We want to sit in this gap – investing only among the best fintech startups that explicitly serve the mass market,” he said.
