Springboard Enterprises, Founded by Kay Koplovitz, Invests in Women-Led Fintech Ventures
The initiative continues to support and accelerate female founders shaping the future of financial technology through mentorship, funding access & strategic growth opportunities.
- New York, NY (1888PressRelease) May 19, 2026 - The venture capital market has changed. After years of growth-at-all-costs, investors now prioritize traction, capital efficiency, and sustainable unit economics. This shift is opening space for a founder class long underfunded in fintech: women-led companies. Springboard Enterprises, the 25-year-old accelerator founded by media executive and USA Network founder Kay Koplovitz, is launching its first dedicated fintech accelerator to help women-led startups access capital and scale. Koplovitz built USA Network before cable television’s potential was widely recognized. Through Springboard, she is now betting on a similarly underpriced opportunity: women-led fintech.
The program is being developed with fintech operators, investors, and executives, including FinMkt cofounder and CEO Luan Cox, Springboard CEO Umbreen Bhatti, and advisors connected to Stripe, AWS Fintech, TD Bank, the Gates Foundation, FinTop, and the American Fintech Council. The program has not yet formally launched, as Springboard is still building the ecosystem and seeking strategic partners.
That early-stage development matters because women-founded startups continue to receive a small fraction of venture funding, despite stronger capital efficiency. Springboard cites research showing women-led startups generate $0.78 per $1 invested versus $0.31 for male-led startups, and deliver up to 35% higher ROI.
The gap suggests the market may be mispricing a major fintech opportunity. Springboard has a strong track record in scaling women-led companies, having supported more than 950 startups, created $76 billion in portfolio value, enabled 28 IPOs and 240 M&A events, and worked with 10 unicorns, including Canva cofounder and CEO Melanie Perkins.
Koplovitz founded Springboard over 25 years ago after observing that women in tech and life sciences lacked access to capital, networks, and support. “We needed to build a whole ecosystem,” she said at the Fintech Is Femme Leadership Summit.
That ecosystem is central to Springboard’s model, which focuses on human capital advisors, investors, operators, media, alumni, and commercial networks tailored to each founder.
Bhatti, now CEO, said the fintech program extends Springboard’s work in complex industries. “Financial health underpins all of that,” she said.
The accelerator will support Seed to Series A/B fintech startups over 8–12 weeks, starting with an in-person program in New York, followed by fundraising support, go-to-market strategy, and a demo day. Target companies will have early revenue, strong markets, technical leadership, or signed customers.
Koplovitz highlighted Zipcar as an example of identifying white space before the market sees it. Springboard is making a similar bet in fintech.
Women influence most consumer spending and financial decisions in healthcare, home, and family, yet fintech infrastructure often ignores this reality. FinMkt cofounder and CEO Luan Cox emphasized infrastructure opportunities. “The money infrastructure doesn’t exist for the way we live,” she said, pointing to healthcare and home improvement financing as underbuilt areas. “We need to build the pipes.”
Springboard argues fintech’s next phase will be defined less by apps and more by infrastructure supporting real financial decisions. Female founders currently receive about 2.3% of U.S. venture funding but account for nearly a quarter of VC-backed exits. Many women-led fintech companies have built with efficiency and discipline from the start. Bhatti said the goal is transformation, not just information. “Story is everything,” she said.
Springboard’s ambition is to back founders solving real problems in financial infrastructure. Koplovitz said success means companies that can scale, raise capital, and create impact. In a market focused on efficiency and durable growth, Springboard is betting that women-led fintech is not just inclusion it is an investment thesis.
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