Digital payments service provider Visa has announced an open call for start-ups across India to apply for the Visa Accelerator Program 2023. Applications will close on 10 January 2023.
Now in its third year, the Visa Accelerator Program selects a small group of start-ups across the Asia Pacific to collaborate on some of the most pressing challenges in the payments industry.
The 2023 program will focus on developing solutions in Web 3.0, global money movement, embedded finance, merchant and small business enablers and open banking solutions.
Sandeep Ghosh, group country manager for India and South Asia at Visa, said, “We have seen some exceptional ideas from start-ups in India that have been a part of the past cohorts and co-developed great products. Expectations are high as we invite start-ups for the third cohort and hope to continue driving the same positive momentum with the program.”
The Visa Accelerator Program was launched in 2019 and has enabled the growth of some of Asia Pacific’s most prominent start-ups. The five start-ups from the 2022 cohort presented their proofs-of-concept at the Visa Accelerator Spotlight event after working with Visa product and business development teams to bring their concepts to life and expand their businesses into new markets across the region.
Start-ups from the 2021 and 2022 cohorts secured nine commercial deals with Visa’s clients and partners in Asia Pacific. Additionally, Visa has entered into six partnership and commercial agreements with selected start-ups, emphasising the value that start-ups can bring to the larger payments industry. From India, the program had DigitSecure and Open selected in the first cohort, while Perfios was part of the second cohort.
TallyKhata was part of last year’s cohort and is and working with Visa to enable small business financing by leveraging its merchant platform and data and Visa credentials for supplier payments and business expenses. Talking about this association, the start-up’s founder and chief executive officer, Shahadat Khan, said, “The partnership with Visa was very impactful, from the structured approach towards solutioning to client engagement. We went from a proof-of-concept to a commercially tested product in six months. The access to Visa leadership and product expertise along with client relationships for joint go-to-market helped us establish strong credibility.”
To tap into the best of the Asia Pacific start-up community, Visa is partnering with Plug & Play to curate access to emerging fintech-focused start-ups for the Visa Accelerator Program 2023. The latter will bring its expertise as a successful investor and its experience working with other major corporate accelerator programs, to identify, attract and accelerate start-ups who want to solve industry challenges and scale new technologies.
Jupe Tan, managing partner of Plug & Play APAC, said, “We are delighted to be working on the Visa Accelerator Program. Our goal is to provide a line-of-sight into the most innovative fintech start-ups that are shaping the financial services industry across Asia Pacific, as well as enable successful proof-of-concept engagements between the finalised start-ups and Visa.”
The program is the right fit for start-ups at Series A and above, with a long-term commitment to Asia Pacific growth and existing operations in the region, and with a market-validated, proven solution. The six-month program will allow selected start-ups to work together with Visa’s payment experts, product architects and business development teams to rapidly co-develop, test, and iterate solutions, while pursuing tangible go-to-market opportunities with Visa’s network of financial institutions, merchants and digital partners.
