Case Study

Building Solvent

When he left prison, Victor “Divine” Lombard experienced firsthand the financial barriers encountered by formerly incarcerated people trying to re-enter the workforce. Coming from a background shaped by poverty and financial exclusion, Divine lacked access to banking, credit, and financial literacy. Without these tools, legitimate entrepreneurship felt inaccessible.

For Divine, the challenge wasn’t a lack of ambition:

"I’ve always had a hustler’s spirit, an entrepreneur’s spirit, if you will. I marketed the product, I sold the product, I made the money. I did everything that you do to run a business; it was just in an illegitimate way."

After his release from prison, this lack of access to legitimate business opportunities began to contribute to an ongoing cycle of financial disadvantages, a system that leads many people to reentry.

Divine recognized this was not an individual problem, but a systemic issue faced by hundreds of thousands of individuals who leave prison every year. Leaving the system builds resilience, ambition, determination, and entrepreneurial spirit, yet access to financial literacy and legitimizing systems like banks and startup capital means that they lack the opportunities to turn these skills into enterprises.

His experience reflects a challenge shared by millions: how to rebuild without access to the systems that enable financial stability?

Divine fought through the problem and saw a way to change it. If justice-impacted individuals could gain access to services that provide financial security and empowerment, then the cycle of recidivism could be disrupted.

The Turning Point:

In Fall 2022, while developing the idea behind Solvent, Divine was mentored by Ron Bauer through the program Village Capital.

This mentorship helped turn Solvent from a great idea into a successful business model, refining the direction of the company and connecting Divine to a valuable entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Divine describes mentorship as the pathway to high-level entrepreneurship:

"Once I became aware, I got access. Then opportunities came. From those opportunities came mentorship… and from mentorship, I learned the frameworks, and I learned how to build a startup."

Targeted mentorship and access to connections, which can otherwise be elusive to formerly incarcerated people, played a critical role in Solvent’s development and growth.

Building Solvent:

In 2022, Solvent was launched. An all-in-one ‘super neobank’ which empowers system-impacted individuals by providing digital banking, debit cards, and supporting improved financial decision-making.

Solvent wasn’t built out of theory but lived experience and direct insight into how to change the problem. Divine understood that financial exclusion and lack of education were not just personal problems; they were systemic barriers.

"I didn't have financial literacy. I didn't have an entrepreneurship education. Had I had those things, I know I could have been successful without being incarcerated."

Solvent was built to close that gap. To provide education and services, paving the road to financial access and stability for system-impacted individuals.

Why it Matters:

The business is an example of what becomes possible when entrepreneurial talent is supported rather than overlooked. Lived experience can translate to market insight. System-impacted founders can build credible ventures. With support, the system can be changed.

At Redemption Ventures, we aim to support more founders like Divine. Founders with the insight and ambition to build businesses when given access to the right resources.

Our model builds on this principle:
Potential + mentorship + capital = a successful business.

Investing in Founders Others Overlook

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