Onward Wins VISA Everywhere Initiative: Most Innovative Fintech Startup With a Female Founder

ONWARD WINS VISA EVERYWHERE INITIATIVE: MOST INNOVATIVE FINTECH STARTUP WITH A FEMALE FOUNDER

The co-parenting application wins $20,000 to continue to improve the lives of co-parents and create happier homes for the next generation.

LOS ANGELES, (Jul. 26, 2023) – In the U.S. there are currently 50 million co-parents, jointly caring for their child(ren) while juggling the complexities of shared expenses. All the while, money is the #1 cause of arguments among divorced and separated parents. Combine the fact that the average cost of divorces is upwards of $25,000, with only 53% of child care costs being covered by child support - the need for co-parenting tools has never been greater!

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While many try to mediate and control communication and scheduling issues between co-parents, no tools are attempting to resolve the financial aspect of co-parenting which often ends up being the #1 cause of arguments. That’s where Onward steps in, the first financial platform built specifically for co-parents to track and get paid back for shared expenses. Onward is also building other tools as this is not a one size fits all solution. They recently launched an invoicing platform for those less collaborative relationships that don’t want to use the same app, enabling one co-parent to send expenses to the other via email. Soon to come to market is a broader community of educational content and resources and additional financial products.

On Wednesday, Onward was announced as the Grand Prize Winner of Visa’s Everywhere Initiative: Women’s Special Edition. This competition recognized and awarded prizes to the most innovative female-led fintech startups. Alongside Jacklyn Rome, three other startups were nominated: Kata Ludvig (Founder & CEO of  Baoba), Nichole Montoya (Co-Founder & CEO of Cheddar Up) and Fernanda Orduña (Co-Founder & Software Developer of  Decaf). The judges of the competition were Angela Kadon of Visa, Kate Dinota of Visa, Kristin Slink of Tech AF Founder Academy and Bukie Adebo Umeano of Anthemis. The event was MC’ed by Marie-Elise Droga, SVP, Head of Fintech Partnerships, Global and North America of Visa.

"We are thrilled to have won the Visa Everywhere Initiative!" says Jacklyn Rome, Founder and CEO of Onward. "We are excited to use this momentum to continue improving the lives of co-parents and creating happier homes for the next generation. We’d like to extend a big thank you to all of our co-parents who gave Onward a chance and trusted us with one of their most sensitive relationships."

The daughter of divorced parents herself, Jacklyn Rome founded Onward in 2020 with the aim of helping divorced and separated parents more easily manage their shared expenses. Rome, who previously led new product launches at Uber and Blue Apron, said she built the app with the intent of not only alleviating headaches for the parents but also helping reduce family tension overall. As she can personally attest to, children also suffer greatly from being caught in the middle as their estranged parents bicker over money.

ABOUT ONWARD

At Onward, we see things a little differently. We are reframing the narrative. As much as divorce is the end of something it also represents a new beginning. There are millions of co-parent families and there is a valuable lesson in every journey. Onward is a fintech platform designed to help co-parents manage shared finances for their children more easily. The app solves an acute pain point for co-parents who primarily send text messages or spreadsheets back and forth to track expenses for their children, pets, and other shared expenses. With Onward, co-parents can streamline the often tense communication about shared finances to enable themselves and their families to thrive. Onward is based in Los Angeles, California.

https://www.onwardapp.com

PRESS CONTACT

Cameron Dieck, cameron@onwardapp.com

SOCIAL LINKS

Website | Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn | Jacklyn Rome (CEO & Founder) LinkedIn