Accion Opportunity Fund and Mastercard launch "Learn with AOF," a free digital financial learning platform to help small businesses improve financial stability and access capital.
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| AOF and Mastercard introduce a first-of-its-kind digital platform designed to help small businesses build credit, strengthen loan applications, and secure funding. Image: Accion |
San Jose, California, USA — February 5, 2025:
Accion Opportunity Fund (AOF), a leading nonprofit focused on promoting economic mobility for small businesses, has teamed up with the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth to introduce "Learn with AOF," a digital financial learning platform designed to help small business owners improve their financial stability and readiness for accessing capital.
The new platform aims to empower small business owners with the financial knowledge needed to strengthen their loan applications and build long-term financial success. This initiative comes as part of AOF’s broader goal to lend $750 million to underinvested businesses over the next five years. The platform is critical in helping ensure widespread access to responsible, affordable capital, particularly as small businesses continue to face challenges from events like the COVID-19 pandemic and natural disasters such as the L.A. wildfires.
According to AOF’s CEO, Luz Urrutia, "Our North Star is to become the first scalable, financially sustainable mission-driven lender for underserved small businesses in the U.S." The platform addresses the gap in existing financial learning resources, which often fail to provide specific, actionable advice for small business owners facing financial challenges.
Research highlights the significant economic impact of small businesses, showing that every dollar invested generates more than two dollars in new wages, spending, and taxes. However, many small businesses still face difficulty accessing the capital they need, with an estimated $100 billion gap in small business financing each year. The launch of Learn with AOF is designed to bridge that gap, helping entrepreneurs avoid predatory lending and access the right financial resources for their growth.
The platform offers free, customizable financial education tailored to small business owners at any stage of their journey. Informed by over 30 years of AOF’s experience, the content includes practical tools and templates, allowing users to implement lessons immediately.
Sandy Fernandez, Vice President of Social Impact at Mastercard, emphasized the importance of combining financial education with access to capital, saying, "It's also about giving underinvested small business owners access to financial knowledge, tools, and strategy needed to establish solid financial footing."
With the launch of Learn with AOF, both AOF and Mastercard Strive USA are advancing their mission to strengthen mission-driven lending and increase financial inclusion across the country. Business owners interested in joining the platform can visit aofund.org/learning and follow AOF on LinkedIn for updates.