Launching and growing a startup is incredibly challenging — even if you have an idea with the potential to help millions. New companies need all the support they can get.
The Visa Everywhere Initiative (VEI) is an open innovation program designed to support promising fintech startups who offer creative solutions to the payments and commerce challenges of tomorrow.
As a competition, it gives startups a global stage to pitch their solutions to a panel of payments experts, win prizes and gain wider attention in the sector. As a program, it connects them to Visa’s global network of partners. This network includes Visa teams from all over the world which are looking for solutions.
Otto Williams, Senior Vice President, Head of Products, Partnerships & Digital Solutions for Visa CEMEA, says, “The Visa Everywhere Initiative offers fintechs and entrepreneurs a platform to secure valuable funding, visibility with key industry stakeholders, and validation from one of the world’s most trusted brands.”
VEI began in the United States in 2015. Since then, it has expanded into a global program, with nearly 12,000 startups from over 100 countries having taken part, collectively raising more than $16 billion USD in funding.
Tune into TechCrunch on July 27, at 10 a.m GMT/6 a.m. EDT
Watch the Central Europe, Middle East, and Africa (CEMEA) finals of the Visa Everywhere Initiative live. The CEMEA competition follows sub-regional competitions held in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Kenya, and South Africa, with the winners of each in-country competition progressing to the regional finale along with other participants from across CEMEA.
Aside from the 1st place prize of $20,000 USD, live audiences can vote to award an Audience Favorite prize of $10,000 USD.
Two new prizes have been introduced for 2023:
- Impact – A prize of $10,000 USD across KSA, Kenya and South Africa only. This prize will be granted to participants who have innovated solutions that reflect a positive social impact on communities or the environment.
- Risk – A prize of $25,000 USD across the CEMEA competition only. Supported by the UAE-based bank Emirates NBD Group, the FIIRE prize rewards start-ups from across CEMEA whose solution includes a security or risk element that has the potential to transform the payments landscape.
The CEMEA winner will go on to the VEI global finale at TechCrunch Disrupt event in San Francisco in September, competing against regional winners representing North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, for the chance to win the $50,000 USD prize.
Throughout the initiative, all of the participants have the valuable opportunity to interact with Visa executives, potential clients, and investors.
The regional winners and CEMEA finalists:
- KSA Edition: Amwal Tech. Founded in 2022, this startup provides authentication-based payment solutions that combine identity verification, fraud prevention and payment processing through a single API. Amwal is currently live, with over 30 merchants, more than 70,000 registered users, and topping one million transactions.
- South Africa Edition: Vuleka is a trading ecosystem fintech platform designed for the informal sector and SMEs. Providing a digital route to market for entrepreneurs, Vuleka connects manufacturers and wholesalers to spaza shops to sell and source their goods, helping to enable digital commerce and future credit profiling for access to financing.
- Kenya Edition: Aifluence is a proprietary technology driven advertising platform that identifies trusted voices that engage, nurture, and activate the right audience to accelerate customer acquisition and growth for global brands. In a world where influencer marketing is becoming one of the ways Kenyan youth can generate self-employment as part of the gig economy, Aifluence has a powerful platform that can be leveraged for global payouts to these creators.
- CEMEA Finalist: Drugstoc. Providing a complete digital platform, Drugstoc combines technology, supply chain management, financial solutions and product knowledge to unlock access to the med-care sector in emerging markets.
- CEMEA Finalist: Vendy helps businesses accept payments from customers without internet access. It enables faster payments and multi-payment options, improving access and digital payments in emerging markets.
To find out more about Visa Everywhere Initiative click here, and for further information about Visa’s FinTech opportunities, please visit partner.visa.com