Applications open for Visa Accelerator Program – Africa

This groundbreaking initiative connects Africa’s brightest minds with experienced mentors, cutting-edge technology, and unparalleled investment opportunities.

Join them on this exciting 3-months journey to propel your startup towards unprecedented growth and recognition. It’s time to unleash your entrepreneurial spirit and forge a path to success in the vibrant fintech landscape.

Objectives

• Visa is looking for the best and brightest companies that are building solutions in one or more of the following opportunity areas:
  • Unlocking new payment flows
    • Are you ready to digitize cash intensive P2P, B2C, B2B, G2C payments to create new commerce opportunities?
      • Cross-border remittances and funds disbursements
      • Finance management platforms for B2B (e.g. payables, receivables, procurement, etc)
  • Embedded Finance
    • Are you creating advanced intelligence solutions to enhance payment and finance experiences in B2C and B2B commerce models?
      • Installments and flexible financing models
      • Transaction engagement and management (e.g. sustainability tracking, transaction controls, PFM)
  • Empowering merchants and SMEs
    • Are you targeting to accelerate the growth of merchants and SMEs through digital payment solutions to foster financial inclusion?
      • Next-generation omni-channel online and face-to-face payments
      • Installments, POS financing, and BNPL
  • Payment infrastructure enablers
    • Are you solving the ground layers of payment infrastructure and key enabling services?
      • Authentication and fraud solutions
      • KYC, customer onboarding and identity management
  • The Future of Finance
    • Are you building at the frontier of payment and Fintech? Are you integrating cutting edge technology to build the future of Finance?
      • Integration of AI / ML into payment solutions
      • Leveraging blockchain and decentralized technologies
  • Sustainable and inclusive finance
    • Are you enhancing payment technology to contribute to a more equitable and inclusive financial system, reduce inequality and create positive impact for people, economies, and the environment?
      • Financial services for underserved communities or climate-vulnerable communities
      • Affordable and accessible financial solutions

Benefits

• Knowledge and Expertise
  • Gain a competitive edge with a tailored program covering product design, marketing, finance, sales and more. Receive experts’ guidance and strategic insights to accelerate your startup’s growth and unlock its full potential.
• Mentorship
  • Gain access to 1:1 mentoring from experts and founders in the ecosystem from Africa and beyond. Learn from the experience of others to solve your challenges.
• Visa Specific Training
  • Benefit from exclusive Fintech and payment training modules designed by Visa. Enhance your understanding of the fin tech landscape, payment ecosystem, and industry best practices. Startups will also get the chance to access Visa’s developer portal and experiment with Visa products and services.
• Funding
  • Secure the funding you need to bring your innovative ideas to life. Showcase your startup during the Demo Day and you could be considered for an investment opportunity by Visa, Plug and Play, and the wider Venture Capital community.
• Partnership Opportunities
  • Forge powerful partnerships that can drive your startup forward. The program aims to open doors to valuable collaboration opportunities with industry leaders, innovative companies, and strategic partners.
• Product Perks
  • Gain access to a wide selection of product perks and discounts from over 100 vendors for a combined offer value of over $200,000 such as AWS with product credits, mentorship and fintech-specific training modules.

Eligibility Criteria

If your team has already designed a minimum viable product related to the proposed areas designed a minimum viable product related to the proposed challenges or has a market-ready solution, you are the right fit for the program.

• Stage
  • Seed to Series A startups with at least an MVP
• Solution
  • Building a solution addressing one of the themes
• Traction
  • Market tested solution that has gained traction
• Geography
  • Existing operations in Africa or demonstrated commitment to expand in Africa.

For more information, visit Visa.