Visa Accelerator Program 2023 presents opportunity for SL fintech startups to go global

Visa, a global leader in digital payments, has announced the Visa Accelerator Program 2023 which gives fintech startups the opportunity to enhance their growth potential through Visa’s extensive network, partnerships and expertise.

Since 2020, Visa Accelerator Program has enabled innovative startups from across Asia Pacific to work with Visa and unlock growth and scale. For the 2023 cohort, it seeks applications from startups with a proven solution, growth stage companies and a focus on Asia Pacific, addressing one of the opportunity areas in – Web 3.0, global money movement, embedded finance, merchant and small business enablers and open banking solutions.

Visa Country Manager Sri Lanka and Maldives Avanthi Colombage said, “We’re excited to invite applications to the third cohort of the Visa Accelerator Program from innovative startups across the country. We have seen some exceptional ideas from the region in the past cohorts and hope to have startups from Sri Lanka too as a part of this initiative. The program will help selected startups to work with Visa and its network, and take enhanced product propositions to markets not just in but beyond Sri Lanka.”

The six-month program is designed for growth-stage companies looking to expand market reach, focusing on product solutioning, technical integration and fast-tracked commercialisation. With the Visa Accelerator Program, startups get to work with Visa’s payments experts, product architects and business development teams. They can rapidly co-develop, test and iterate new solutions while pursuing tangible go-to market opportunities, leveraging Visa’s extensive network of financial institutions, merchants and digital partners.

Startups can read about the program and apply here, by or before 10 January 2023. The program will run for a duration of six months, culminating in a Demo Day where startups showcase their solutions to Visa’s partners and clients from across Asia Pacific.

Among the five participants of the previous cohort – Visa Accelerator Program 2022 – from across Asia Pacific, were Perfios of India, a fintech startup that provides automated credit assessment and underwriting solution for small business loans allowing plug and play card programs for instant disbursement of financing on Visa credentials, and TallyKhata of Bangladesh which enables small business financing by leveraging TallyKhata’s merchant platform and data and Visa credentials for supplier payments and business expenses.

With a goal of enabling safe and secure movement of money across the globe, Visa seeks to consistently build positive payment experiences in Sri Lanka, ensuring speed and convenience while reducing payment friction. Startups who can contribute to such a goal would find the program beneficial and can access the scale of Visa’s network, global mentors, dedicated Visa sponsorship and products, access to technical know-how, business development opportunities and funding.

For more information, including how to apply, visit: https://www.visa.com.sg/apaccelerator.