Ahorrando Juntos!
Quick post on the company I'm mentoring this term at the Stanford Startup Incubator (SSE Labs): The motto of Juntos Finanzas ("Saving Together") does a great job of helping explain the vision of founder Ben Knelman's company. In a nutshell, Ben and team are working to create personal finance tools (ala Mint) but with a twist - the target demographic is first-generation Latin Americans.
The initial product is completely SMS-based (there is an option to receive a monthly summary report via email) and does not require the user to even have a bank account. Tracking spending is as simple as sending a text message to Juntos Finanzas with information about the purchase. Interacting with the SMS-based service is done completely in Spanish. The technical solution (SMS) and target market resonated with me when I first met Ben as it is similar to some of the work I've been doing with the Center for Science, Technology and Society at Santa Clara University. Entrepreneurs are realizing that there are huge addressable market segments that require a different perspective.
The intial sign-up is really easy - just send a text message to 408 758-8269
Check out the service, interesting concept and target market.