VisionFund announces significant investment in community-led digital financial inclusion through DreamStart Labs

VisionFund announces significant investment in community-led digital financial inclusion through DreamStart Labs

 

VisionFund, the financial services arm of World Vision, has made a strategic investment into DreamStart Labs - developers of the DreamSave app now used in 35 countries, by 35,000 Savings Groups.

The investment strengthens VisionFund's ability to reach those in extreme poverty with life-changing digital financial tools that strengthen financial and business management, provide direct links to formal financial services, and build credit history. By scaling digital reach to people organised into savings groups in the most remote areas, the investment delivers financial services to those previously excluded.

It offers improved and accessible savings group management for the groups themselves, along with savings group insight and management for NGOs across the sector. 

The investment reinforces DreamStart Labs’ position as a global leader in inclusive financial technology (fintech) enabling the company to accelerate its mission of bringing trusted, accessible financial tools to underserved communities across developing countries.

“This significant investment reflects our belief in the DreamStart technology and our strategic understanding of poverty. The end of extreme poverty remains possible, and demands we scale digital-reach into savings groups in the very poorest communities. Our investment enables this,” said Edgar Martinez, President and CEO of VisionFund.

“World Vision is very excited about this investment”, said Christopher Shore, World Vision’s Chief Development Officer for Economic Empowerment.  “We believe massively scaling up the number of savings groups around the world is a key to ending extreme poverty.  This investment will save savings group members huge amounts of time, will increase the ability of financial service organisations like VisionFund to lend to savings groups, and will accelerate the ability of savings group members to lift themselves out of extreme poverty.”

Lilian Dodzo, World Vision’s Regional leader for East Africa, said, “In our work with the most vulnerable, the Dream Save App is a game changer for our livelihoods work in remote communities. By bringing trusted, accessible financial tools to underserved populations we now have the capacity to reach over 500,100 clients currently served by VisionFund in East Africa alone." 

DreamStart Labs will continue to operate as an independent technology provider for savings groups. 

The company’s award-winning ecosystem of digital financial systems — DreamSave, and DreamInsights is available to all NGOs, financial institutions, and development organizations worldwide. 

The investment will not affect operations, service delivery, partner commitments or terms, data protection and privacy policies, or any other aspect of how DreamStart Labs serves its partners. 

DreamSave is used in 35 countries, supports 20+ languages, and serves a global network of over 700,000 members across 35,000 savings groups. VisionFund’s investment will enable DreamStart Labs to deepen product innovation, expand its analytics capabilities, and enhance technical support for partners advancing savings-led development in diverse contexts. 

World Vision has been using DreamStart Labs’ technology for several years, with VisionFund embedding it into Saving’s Group strategy. “It is a foundational part of our strategy to serve savings groups,” said Edgar Martinez. “To further scale our impact, we need digital tools that empower communities while giving financial institutions the data and insights required to support them effectively. DreamStart Labs delivers exactly that. We are pleased to strengthen our collaboration as we work to expand financial inclusion throughout the developing world.” 

Henrik Esbensen, Ph.D., Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer of DreamStart Labs, said, “At DreamStart Labs, our mission has always been to empower people in developing countries to pursue their aspirations for a better life. VisionFund is the largest owner-operated mission-driven microfinance network in the world. Their investment enhances our capacity to bring essential financial tools to even more underserved communities. It represents a significant moment not only for DreamStart Labs, but for the broader financial inclusion ecosystem.”