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Hello readers,
Today, over 2 billion people are celebrating the Lunar New Year and welcoming the Year of the Tiger (specifically, the water tiger), as per the Chinese zodiac. While there isn’t a consensus about the traits of the tiger, as the festival is celebrated by many different cultures with varying traditions, there are general principles around its symbolism.
The tiger is considered the king of all animals in Chinese mythology and culture and, as a Zodiac sign, it symbolizes passion, power, courage, confidence, leadership, and strength. That’s quite a set of characteristics, enough to make one envious. However, people don’t need to wait for the Year of the Tiger to invoke these traits. The folks at women-focused fintech startup Lucy stopped waiting a long time ago.
The company is on a mission to help underserved women by tailoring a range of financial and non-financial services for them and propel women entrepreneurs to the spotlight. Debbie Watkins, CEO and co-founder of Lucy, has worked in over 35 countries in her more than two-decade-long career.
While regularly advising banks and other financial institutions on how to expand their outreach programs to underserved groups, Watkins noticed a particular oddity — something that has become painfully obvious over the years.
She observed that the management of these firms was mostly male and, worryingly, the proportion of business loans they were providing was also skewed toward men. With the goal of tackling this issue, Watkins co-founded Lucy with Hal Bosher, ex-CEO of Yoma Bank and head of Wave Money, as well as Luke Janssen, founder and ex-CEO of Tigerspike.
And finally, wishing our readers a happy and prosperous Lunar New Year!
— Shravanth
The Big Story
Women-focused fintech firm eyes $5m series A funding
Lucy plans to roll its services out in Hong Kong, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Read more.
Trending news
1. Ola to set up 300 new dark stores in quick commerce push
Currently, Ola Dash has as many as 200 dark stores and provides “store to door” delivery within 10 minutes.
2. Tiger Global leads $15m round of ex-Lazada exec’s fintech firm
Ayoconnect currently serves more than 100 clients, including Bank Rakyat Indonesia, Dana, and Bukalapak.
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