IncomeMax will receive £125,000 to scale up a new digital solution to help people recover financially post Covid. Nesta’s £3 million challenge is supported by the Department for Work and Pensions, the Money and Pensions Service and JPMorgan Chase.
IncomeMax has been announced as a semi-finalist in Nesta’s Rapid Recovery Challenge, which aims to improve access to jobs and money for those hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic by supporting innovative solutions to scale quickly.
The East London based social enterprise, which helps families access unclaimed benefits to reduce debt and household bills, will be given £125,000 to develop and scale their new Digital IncomeMax Service. This new offer will assist UK citizens in finding vital sources of new income and provide a human-centred and personal digital journey to support those most in need.
IncomeMax is one of fourteen semi-finalists who will receive funding from Nesta to scale up their solutions to support the most vulnerable access employment and manage their finances. The six Challenge finalists, who will all receive an additional £150,000 of funding, will be announced in May 2021, with the final two winners decided in September 2021.
Commenting on the announcement, Lee Healey, Founder of IncomeMax said: IncomeMax is thrilled to be chosen as a Rapid Recovery Challenge semi-finalist and to be part of a movement which is advocating for a new economy, one which supports humans and the planet to thrive. We’ve seen through the Covid crisis just how important incomes are and this funding will allow us to create a new, impactful, digital channel to help even more vulnerable people maximise their income.
IncomeMax, which has already helped more than 90,000 families find £24 million pounds, will continue to play a vital role in the recovery by reuniting families with the £10.2 billion of income which Department for Work and Pensions data shows is currently going unclaimed by UK families each year. This figure is expected to rise as more hard working families face unforeseen hardship as a result of the pandemic.
