Visa announced the 2021 edition of the Everywhere Initiative – a global innovation program and competition for fintech. This year, the focus is on expansion and accessibility, with Visa offering a one-stop experience to register and learn about upcoming opportunities and competitions.
Fintechs started by everyone, everywhere will pitch their ideas in regional competitions to a panel of expert judges from across the payments industry. All applicants from Pakistan are invited to compete first on a CEMEA (Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa) stage to win a combined $25,000 in total prize and then on a global stage for a combined $100,000 in total prize money. and to tell their companies’ stories.
“Supporting companies across the globe who are building solutions that power seamless money movement everywhere is a top priority for Visa. We recognize fintechs as a force for innovation that is core to our business and encourages everyone to apply to Visa Everywhere Initiative. I am looking forward to seeing the many brilliant ideas from Pakistan this year,” noted Kamil Khan, Visa’s Country Manager for Pakistan.
The Visa Everywhere Initiative is a global, open innovation program that tasks start-ups and fintech to solve payment and commerce challenges of tomorrow, further enhance their own product propositions and provide visionary solutions for Visa’s vast network of partners. The program first launched in the U.S. in 2015 and quickly expanded into a global program with more than 7,000 participating startups. To date, startups have collectively raised over $2.5 billion in funding, and the program has been activated on six continents—touching more than 100 countries.
Six monetary prizes will be awarded during the global finals event, where the winner will receive $15,000 USD and Audience Favorite will receive $10,000 USD. The CEMEA winner will participate in the Global Competition. Overall Winner will get $50,000 USD; Audience’s Favorite will get $25,000 USD; 2nd Place winner will get $15,000 USD and 3rd Place winner will get $10,000 USD. Visa does not ask for any equity from Visa Everywhere Initiative competitors as part of this competition.
Visa is looking for creative minds who are solving the payments and commerce challenges faced by businesses of all sizes and sectors, including but not limited to: Enabler of Digital Services and Digital Issuers; Digital Issuance; Value-Add for Merchants and/or Consumers when it comes to Finance; Small/Medium -Sized Business Recovery.
Participants are invited to submit applications in English to the CEMEA regional pitch before May 7, with the regional CEMEA finals scheduled for June 8 and global finals – for September 14, 2021. Visa and TechCrunch will promote and host live-streamed and virtual events in North America, CEMEA, and Latin America. Participants can register and submit applications in English following the link: https://visaeverywhere.typeform.com/to/VxWIYB
