Mical Jeanlys-White didn’t head to New York or Silicon Valley when she was ready to launch her fintech startup. She chose Philadelphia.

A former managing director at JPMorgan Chase, Jeanlys-White founded WealthMore in 2022 with a straightforward mission to put wealth-building tools within reach of everyday consumers, particularly women and communities of color who have long been locked out of the financial system, writes Erin Feeney for Technical.ly. 

The idea came to her on a Peloton. 

“If you can bring the best instructors in the world on a video screen attached to a bike,” she recalled thinking, “surely we can find the best wealth advisors and put them on a tech platform so anyone can have access to a wealth advisor.” 

The vision is also personal. 

A first-generation American with Haitian roots, Jeanlys-White has credited her grandmother’s teachings on saving and financial discipline as foundational to how she thinks about money and long-term wealth. 

After decades working for JPMorgan Chase, American Express, Nestlé and Accenture, she set out to build something different: a company that weaves together technology, financial education and personalized guidance.

Philadelphia made sense for that kind of company. 

Jeanlys-White has pointed to the region’s universities, diverse talent pool and lower operating costs compared to pricier tech hubs, along with an entrepreneurial ecosystem stocked with collaborators, investors and mission-aligned organizations.

For Jeanlys-White, the city is more than a business decision. There’s a culture here, she says — “a certain roll-up-your-sleeves, get-involved” ethos that she finds less title-driven and more focused on getting the job done than better-known tech hubs. 

It’s a place where, she believes, innovation and community can build something together.

To learn more about Jeanlys-White and why she thinks Philadelphia is the right city to build a company, read Technical.ly. 

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