Diapers 2 Deposits Completes the NSF I-Corps Lean Startup Accelerator

BALTIMORE COUNTY, MD., August 5, 2026. Diapers 2 Deposits, Inc. has completed the Lean Startup Accelerator, the pilot summer program run by the NSF I-Corps Northeast Hub out of Princeton University, which concluded August 4.

D2D took part as Thrivv FAST, a collaboration with technology partner Thrivv Hyperintelligence (Thrivv AI), and was one of 15 startups selected for the inaugural cohort. Founder and CEO Whitney Ramirez, AFC®, and Thrivv Hyperintelligence co-lead Xavier Smith worked through nine hands-on sessions to turn a proven program into a repeatable one.

The company leaves with a sharper answer to the question the accelerator exists to force: who pays, and why.

What the nine weeks covered

Two workstreams ran in parallel.

The first was commercial. The team separated the roles in its own model, then built a commitment ladder and a focused discovery playbook designed to move a partner from a first conversation to a funded pilot, and to test whether stated interest was actually willingness to pay.

The second was product. Working with Thrivv AI, D2D advanced the next generation of its flagship experience: Virtual FinancialField Trips® delivered on Meta Quest 3S headsets, which puts the trip inside any classroom or program that can run a headset. What the format is and why it works is covered in a separate piece on Virtual FinancialField Trips.

The buyer moved

When the Hub published its cohort list in June, it described Thrivv FAST as a platform helping schools and districts deliver measurable outcomes. That was the working hypothesis: schools receive the value, so schools buy.

Nine weeks of customer discovery separated the two.

Students, schools, and career and technical education partners are who the program serves. Banks and workforce development funders are the ones who pay. Banks carry a Community Reinvestment Act obligation to invest in lower-income communities. Workforce funders answer for whether people get jobs and keep them, and financial instability is one of the more predictable reasons a placement does not stick.

The distinction sounds like semantics until you try to run a business on it. A district that loves your program still has a procurement cycle and a budget set last spring. A bank with a community obligation and a branch it wants to grow has a different calendar and a different motive.

What the team learned

Three findings stood out.

Banks are ready to fund quality programs. The core assumption held. Banks actively seek data-backed financial education to support, and they will back a full program rather than a one-off session when the outcomes are clear.

Banking relationships grow branch by branch. The path runs through a specific branch and the specific community it serves, on the funder's calendar rather than the school year's. The winning move is to bring a program to a neighborhood the bank already wants to reach.

Systems are the engine of scale. The largest unlock was operational: converting a highly customized service into a productized, tiered model, and building the team and infrastructure to deliver it consistently.

The regulatory backdrop shifted four days earlier

Worth noting for anyone tracking this space. On July 31, the OCC and FDIC jointly proposed targeted amendments to the CRA rules.

Some context first: the sweeping CRA final rule adopted in October 2023 was blocked by a federal court before it took effect and never applied, and banks are examined under the 1995 regulations today. The new proposal keeps that architecture and amends around it.

For program operators, one line matters most. The agencies say the proposal is meant to increase the focus on lending and to ensure community development grants reach the communities they are meant to benefit, rather than being "diverted to other activities or excessive operating costs."

Which is a striking thing to read four days after finishing nine weeks of work on exactly that problem. The pressure to show how much of a dollar reaches the student was already coming from funders. Regulators are now proposing to ask it on the record. It is still a proposal, with comments due 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.

The track record behind the pitch

D2D reports 2,323 students served across 67 sites and 26 FinancialField Trips® delivered, with a 34-point average gain on pre- and post-assessments, from 44% to 78%.

This summer's trips took young people to the NASDAQ closing bell in New York, to Bloomberg, and to landmark financial and workforce institutions across the region. Existing partners have added FinancialField Trips® to their own programs as demand has grown.

The assessment design is what funders press on. A pre- and post-instrument on the same students is a modest research design, but it is more than most financial literacy programs bring to a funding conversation. D2D has previously published classroom outcome data, including spring 2026 results from a New York partner school, and is now pursuing an NSF research grant to study how real-world money learning affects student outcomes.

"Financial education should start at the diaper and carry all the way to the first deposit," said Whitney Ramirez, AFC®, Founder and CEO of Diapers 2 Deposits. "This summer sharpened our next chapter: build the systems to meet the demand we have proven, and start with the partners ready to move now. We do more than move the needle. We end generational poverty."

What ships this fall

• Virtual FinancialField Trips® on Meta Quest 3S, alongside new in-person trips across Maryland, the Mid-Atlantic, and into Atlanta.

• Tiered, repeatable program packages replacing the fully customized build.

• Bank CRA-funded pilots, structured to produce the outcome evidence workforce and government funders ask for next.

• Team and systems growth so the model holds as volume increases.

D2D thanks the NSF I-Corps Northeast Hub team and its mentors for a rigorous and clarifying nine weeks.

FAQ

What is the Lean Startup Accelerator?

A pilot summer program from the NSF I-Corps Northeast Hub, based at Princeton and supported by NSF grant #2048602, for teams that have already completed I-Corps customer discovery and are ready to build a repeatable business model. The inaugural cohort ran nine sessions with 15 teams.

What is Thrivv FAST?

A collaboration between Diapers 2 Deposits and technology partner Thrivv AI, combining D2D's F.A.S.T. Framework with Thrivv AI's platform to deliver measurable math and financial literacy outcomes through immersive FinancialField Trips®.

Can financial literacy programming count toward a bank's CRA record?

Community development activity in low- and moderate-income communities counts toward a bank's CRA evaluation, and financial education delivered in those communities has long been part of how banks build that record. Treatment depends on the current regulations and examiner judgment, and the rules are under active revision as of mid-2026, so banks should confirm with their own compliance teams.

When do the Meta Quest 3S trips launch?

This fall, alongside new in-person trips. Schools and programs interested in the virtual format can register interest now.

Bringing the program to a community

D2D is inviting new partners for the fall cohort.

Banks and CRA partners can review how funded engagements are structured on the financial literacy programming for banks page. Schools and districts that want to host delivery can start at school and district partnerships. Organizations that need scope, credentials, and capacity in a single document can pull the D2D capability statement.

The NSF I-Corps Northeast Hub is sponsored by NSF grant #2048602.