Accion Opportunity Fund and Mastercard partner to launch first of its kind digital financial learning platform for small businesses

Platform aims to boost small business financial stability and loan readiness.

SAN JOSE, Calif., Feb. 4, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Accion Opportunity Fund (AOF), a leading nonprofit dedicated to advancing small business economic mobility, in partnership with the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, has launched a new financial learning platform created specifically for small business. The platform, called Learn with AOF, targets improved small business financial stability with an eye toward helping the business build credit and capital readiness. 

AOF has announced their vision to lend $750 million in new capital to underinvested businesses over the next five years, and Learn with AOF is critical to ensuring widespread access to these loans. Access to responsible and affordable small business capital is more important than ever, as crises from COVID to the L.A. wildfires threaten small business livelihoods.

"Our North Star is to become the first scalable, financially sustainable mission-driven lender for underserved small businesses in the U.S.," says Luz Urrutia, CEO of Accion Opportunity Fund. "We must drastically scale our lending operation without giving up the personalized support we offer small business owners throughout their journeys. We created Learn with AOF by listening to small business owners who told us access to capital is a lifeline for their business, but existing online financial learning fell short of helping to strengthen their loan applications and build the financial knowledge they need for long-term success. Finding answers to specific financial challenges online was difficult and overwhelming."

Access to capital has long proven to have far-reaching impacts for small businesses. For every $1 invested in a small business, more than $2 is generated annually in new wages, spending and taxes, and every loan AOF makes helps a business support at least two jobs. That said, expensive, often predatory alternatives can wreak havoc on the business's finances and longevity. Each year, an estimated 79% of small businesses cannot access the capital they need to grow – representing a $100 billion gap in small business financing. These businesses need support to access the right capital for their goals and avoid predatory products.

Learn with AOF helps under-resourced small business owners access capital by helping them gain greater control over their finances. "Economic opportunity is about more than access to capital," says Sandy Fernandez, Vice President of Social Impact at the Center for Inclusive Growth and Head of the Mastercard Strive USA program, which is supporting the Learn with AOF initiative. "It's also about giving underinvested small business owners access to financial knowledge, tools, and strategy needed to establish solid financial footing, plan long-term, and access responsible and affordable financial products. We are proud to partner with AOF to bring this innovative learning platform to small business owners and be a part of their bold vision to scale their lending operation over the next five years."

Learn with AOF is the only digital financial learning platform with content created by small business owners who know what it takes to overcome the toughest financial hurdles. Informed by AOF's 30+ years of experience unlocking new opportunities for millions of business owners, the platform is free, flexible, and relevant to business owners at any stage. It simplifies "small business finance" into focused topics that can be learned anywhere and takes the guesswork out of where to start by placing users on customized learning paths based on their specific financial needs. As users advance through topics, they unlock free tools and templates that make it easy to put learning into practice right away.

With the launch of Learn with AOF, Accion Opportunity Fund and Mastercard Strive USA are adding momentum to the larger movement to scale and strengthen mission-driven lending nationwide. Visit aofund.org/learning to join the Learn with AOF community of learners and follow AOF on LinkedIn for our latest updates.

About Accion Opportunity Fund

Accion Opportunity Fund (AOF) works to advance economic mobility for underserved small businesses through affordable capital, knowledge resources, networks, and policy.

About the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth

The Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth advances equitable and sustainable economic growth and financial inclusion around the world. The Center leverages the company's core assets and competencies, including data insights, expertise, and technology, while administering the philanthropic Mastercard Impact Fund, to produce independent research, scale global programs, and empower a community of thinkers, leaders, and doers on the front lines of inclusive growth. For more information and to receive its latest insights, follow the Center on LinkedIn, Instagram and subscribe to its newsletter.

Media Contact:
Meredith Medlin Dooley, VP of Partnerships & Programs, AOF,
[email protected] 
615.584.3409

SOURCE Accion Opportunity Fund