Hello All,

This year has been a pivotal time for Guava as we've refined our mission and realigned our strategy. Last year, we identified that our community product wasn't just a part of what we do—it's what sets us apart. As a result, we've transformed this offering into a robust tool designed specifically for financial institutions, fintechs, and small business service providers that cater to Black-owned businesses and industries with high concentrations of Black-owned businesses.

Recognizing the need to streamline our offerings and avoid competition with our new target demographic, we decided to wind down our direct banking product in Q1. This move has allowed us to dedicate our resources and energy to enhancing our community product, ensuring it is perfectly tailored to the needs of our partners and the businesses they serve. As a result, we shrunk our team to only core members (myself, community management, and key engineering support) to extend our runway and align with the new product vision.

Our revamped community product is a solution-set that helps our partners address the specific opportunities within Black business communities and authentically attract the fastest-growing SMB segment. It includes tailored financial literacy content, a community (customer) engagement platform, and data-driven insights that allow partners to offer more personalized, effective customer support.

In our pipeline, we are excited about several promising initiatives and collaborations:

• We are in the proposal phase with a large winemaker/distributor to enhance their engagement strategy with BIPOC-owned wine and spirits businesses, aiming to create a more inclusive industry ecosystem.
• We are thrilled to be part of a pitch for Target to support their strategic investments in Black-owned small businesses, aligning our tools and resources with Target’s expanding diversity initiatives.
• In collaboration with NYC Small Business Services, we are preparing to launch a pilot workshop series aimed at increasing the number of MWBE-certified Black-owned businesses in New York City. This initiative is a priority for the city’s current administration and will kick off during Black Business Month in August.

These engagements will allow Guava to build case studies that position us as the go-to platform to build relationships between multinational corporations and category leaders and the Black-owned businesses they want to engage as clients/customers.

With regard to the financial services industry, we are actively initiating conversations with industry leaders to explore potential pilots. We've reached out and have initial calls scheduled with a number of FIs. This includes Rho, Toast, Mercury, Accion, Shopify, Square, and Amalgamated Bank. Building this pipeline is crucial as we aim to integrate our community tools with their ecosystems, enhancing the support network available to Black-owned businesses across these channels.

Speaking Engagements

Guava continues to actively participate in key industry events, enhancing our presence and sharing our insights:

• In May, we conducted an enlightening interview with Ed Skylar at Citi, exploring the successes and strategies behind Citi’s impact fund.
• In June, Guava was featured as a growth-stage speaker at the Collision conference in Toronto, where we discussed our innovative approach to inclusive entrepreneurship.

Community Events

Our ongoing dinner series will include an event in New Orleans during Essence Fest in July, likely sponsored by Harris Poll, and another in Martha’s Vineyard in August with support from the Marcus Garvey Family Foundation. These events are designed as platforms for deeper connection and community building among Black entrepreneurs and supporters.

As always happy to discuss any/all of this further.

Best,

Kelly (she/her)