FRSH Start

The problem - The justice involved community does not have equal access to banking and healthcare. 

70m Criminal Conviction = ⅓ of American adult population

17.5m or 25% of the justice impacted community is unbanked 

9.5m justice impacted remain uninsured 

Redlining and politics subjugate these communities

Forced to use check cashing and predatory lending 

High medical costs and lifelong debt 

Impossible to create wealth and overcome their situation

The Solution - Provide a financial second chance designed for the community

We utilize technology and remove barriers to provide access for all, regardless of background to banking and health care services. 

Bank account and debit card

Health care benefits including Vision, Dental and life 

Credit Builder 

Secured Credit cards. 

Our community struggles with valid forms of ID, little to no upfront capital, accumulated debt, inactive accounts at large banking institutions and other barriers of entry and remain unbanked and uninsured or heavily reliant on predatory lenders or check cashing facilities. 

FRSH solves this by eliminating all barriers to entry for the formerly incarcerated and gives access back to the community. We hear you. We see you. We got you!

Our target population is the justice impacted community, specifically formerly incarcerated individuals who face significant barriers in accessing traditional banking products and services due to their criminal records. This population is often underserved by the financial industry, which can make it difficult for them to establish financial stability and gain economic mobility.

Our solution is to remove the roadblocks that have been built by decades of systemic discrimination and provide affordable banking products and services that are accessible to everyone, regardless of their background. We have built our platform specifically for the justice impacted community, with a focus on eliminating barriers to entry and providing easy-to-use, low-cost banking services.

By providing access to affordable banking products and services, we aim to help the justice impacted community establish financial stability and improve their chances of successful re-entry into society. We believe that everyone deserves the chance at economic mobility and a stable, prosperous future for themselves and their families, and our platform is designed to help make that a reality. Our mission is to create a FRSH start for the justice impacted community by removing the barriers to financial stability and providing access to the best banking products and services available.

We are all justice impacted ourselves. Multiple time founders with exits. 

Please take a look.

Topeka K. Sam 

Chris Heckler

Danny Feldman

1187 active users and growing everyday. 

We are applying to this program because the financial inclusion challenge by MIT Solve is an excellent opportunity for entrepreneurs and innovators who are passionate about creating solutions that can help underserved or excluded populations access financial services. The challenge focuses on finding technology-based solutions that can make transactions easier, protect against predatory debt, and increase the ability of individuals and MSMEs to take risks and build wealth. The challenge also seeks to address the drivers of financial exclusion, such as lack of access to the internet and financial service agents, unclear explanations of product offerings, lack of formal ID, and discrimination, particularly against women, ethnic minorities, people of color, persons with disabilities, displaced communities, and low-income populations.

Our unique distribution model: we have access directly to the community due our own lived experiences and successes. We have access directly inside facilities themselves, probation and parole, community based organizations and workforce development agencies. 

Our product is designed to remove all the barriers that exist for those with convictions to regain their access to financial products and health benefits. 

We are the only financial services company in the justice tech space, solution born from the system, built for and by the justice community. 

500,000 in Justice impacted people not cashing their paycheck is 2.2b in predatory fees we are putting back into the community and not the predatory lenders pockets. We want to accomplish this in 3 years or less. 

1m in 5 years. 

This will have a direct impact on financial health and recidivism rates. 

We want to provide health care benefits to 250,000 justice impacted people in 3 years. 

This will save the economy 2b in health costs annually. 

Recidivism Rates 

# of people not cashing checks 

Dollars saved on medical bills 

Financial health of family units 

Credit scores 

User growth, User engagement, time spent on app

Financial education courses completed

to name a few...

Our theory is that justice impacted people who have access to banking and healthcare will live better lives and is based on several interconnected factors.

First, access to banking services can provide justice impacted individuals with financial stability, which can help them overcome economic hardships and build a better future for themselves and their families. This can include opening a savings account, accessing loans for education or business ventures, and establishing a credit history. This will also be necessary to live in a cashless post-pandemic world when trying to reintegrate into society. 

Second, access to healthcare services can improve the physical and mental health outcomes of justice impacted individuals, who often face significant health challenges due to the stress and trauma of incarceration and systemic barriers to healthcare access. Improved health outcomes can lead to better overall well-being and a greater ability to pursue education, employment, and other opportunities. Having access to mental health providers and substance abuse counseling is paramount to true rehabilitation and reintegration. 

Third, the combination of financial stability and improved health outcomes can create a positive feedback loop, where individuals are better able to pursue economic opportunities, maintain good health, and build social networks that support their overall well-being.

Overall, access to banking and healthcare services can help justice impacted individuals overcome systemic barriers and improve their quality of life, by providing the tools and resources necessary to build a brighter future for themselves and their families. By addressing the root causes of economic and health disparities, we can create a more just and equitable society that supports the full potential of all individuals, regardless of their background or past experiences.

We are a mobile app. MyFRSH that can be found on any App Store. 

We use software, AI, Machine learning, big data, IoT and other solutions to power our products. 

We have a very diverse executive team, advisory board and workforce. This includes all colors, races, and genders. Everyone on our founding team is justice impacted. 

B2B2C 

We provide financial education courses to: Facilities, Government Organizations, Probation and Parole, Community based organizations and workforce development agencies. We train them on how to run the course and provide the tech, infrastructure and training so that they can provide banking and healthcare as a service to their community. 

We monetize the interchange fee, the monthly premium for healthcare and a SaaS model for the credit builder. 

All of our users today come to us through these organic partnerships without spending money on marketing, keeping our CAC very low. 

We have funded through accelerators, foundations and angel investors thus far. We are preparing for a larger VC raise for our seed round. 

We will be profitable from revenue through a mix of interchange, SaaS, and monthly premiums. 

Depending on our Seed raise could vastly change our break even timing depending on how we deploy the capital. Would love to discuss more. 

But we have a clear path to profitability. 

Here is a link to our deck with financials. 

We have raised over 1.2m so far. The co-founder of SoFi, Social Venture Partners Dallas, Dream.Org and more are notable contributors to our pre-seed round. 

We are preparing for a seed round now.