A fistful of justice Angel Rich

BUCKAROOS2022

A FISTFUL OF JUSTICE

Angel Rich has the best name in

the business. And she might just have the best heart too. Because as well as being a fierce founder, Rich uses her skills to help others gain financial access and inclusion. She's a warrior for justice, with fintech as her main weapon… We go nuts for that.

We’re proud to reveal our next badass buckeroo is none other than Angel “Spread the Wealth” Rich.

FINANCE IS FOR EVERYONE!

The story first began when Rich – who was busy making billions for Prudential – took a trip to Kenya. Seeing a small boy religiously wearing a Whaton t-shirt was an eye-opening experience for her- “I realized that no matter how smart he was, he would likely never have the opportunity to go to Wharton, never mind leave Kenya”, Rich recalls. “That was when I decided to quit my job and start dedicating my work to creating equal access for financial literacy”. Just like that, Rich became the Robin Hood of finance that we know and love today. The legendary Sherwood-forest-based spreader of wealth that is. Not the investment platform.

Rich has a hefty accolade of achievements – far too many for this bloody small word count! So we’ve narrowed down our favourite three.

Firstly, we’re so impressed with her company CreditRich. A fintech which improves users’ credit scores by using spare change to pay bills. Genius, genius, genius. That’s what this magazine is all about. Lush new fintechs which help people in meaningful ways. Also… loving the word “Rich” wordplay there, Angel you ledge.

Secondly, we CANNOT GET ENOUGH of how Rich approaches financial literacy. She’s written a bunch of books, designed courses… and best of all, gamified finance with her company Wealthy Life. Two thumbs up from us.

And our very favourite thing on the list? It has to be #BlackTechMatters - a company which kicks bigoted thinking squarely in the balls. “Black Tech Matters is dedicated to increasing diversity in STEM. I founded it with Yusuf Henriquez after hearing about the lack of diversity in tech”, Rich explains. “We found that often the large tech companies like Google would say that the reason was because they couldn’t find qualified Black people to take the jobs. Black Tech Matters was created to dispel that narrative and connect Black students, entrepreneurs and professionals to tech companies to increase diversity in STEM”.

SMASHING IT OUT OF THE PARK, AGAINST ALL ODDS

Start-ups owned by Black females get a teeny-tiny, hardly-visible 0.02% of all start-up investment money. The deck is stacked against women of colour. But somehow Rich smashed it out the park anyway, founding multiple fintechs and securing funding. We asked more about her journey. “It’s been a really tough journey. I had to fight really hard to get to where I am today”, she explains. “Countless people didn’t believe in me and underestimated what I am capable of”.

For others out there, Rich has this advice, “To other Black women who are struggling to get funding … whatever you’re asking for, double it”.

Anyone have a contact at Marvel…? We’ve got a new superhero in town.