Global digital payment company Visa, will be hosting it’s Africa Fintech Accelerator program demos. As if to showcase Nairobi’s love for fintech companies, the first demo day is just before Valentine’s Day on February 13th . This will see fintech start-ups from 18 countries across Africa participate.
At the event, the inaugural group of startups will present their innovations to influential figures in the ecosystem, funding partners, angel investors, and venture capitalists.Those deemed fit to make the event were whittled down from a list of more than 1000 applicants.
On the demo day, startups like Duhqa, OkHi and others will showcase their innovations. Launched in June 2023, the program aims to enable Africa’s expanding start-up community by bringing expertise, connections, technology, and investment funding.
Second Cohort Application
Currently, Visa’s Africa Fintech Accelerator program is accepting applications for its second cohort until February 29th. Startups in categories like embedded finance, empowering merchants, and sustainable finance are encouraged to apply. The program is a 3-months journey aimed to propel startups towards growth and recognition in the African fintech landscape. After applications close in February, it will run from April 15th to August 30th.
According to Visa, applicants should have “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.”
For its next cohort, Visa has set its eyes on fintech ticking one of the following boxes:
- Transforming money flow: Digitizing diverse payment types (P2P, B2C, B2B, G2C) to unlock new opportunities in commerce, including cross-border remittances, fund disbursements, open banking, account-to-account solutions, mobile money flows, and interoperability.
- Empowering financial experiences: Infusing advanced intelligence into B2C and B2B commerce models to enhance payment and finance interactions. This includes flexible financing, consumer loyalty programs, and Fintech-as-a-Service.
- Merchant and SME empowerment: Accelerating the growth of merchants and SMEs through digital payment solutions, emphasizing next-gen omnichannel payments, digital onboarding, working capital optimization, and value-added solutions.
- Payment infrastructure support: Establishing the foundational layer of payment infrastructure and critical services like authentication, fraud prevention, digital onboarding, identity management, credit scoring, risk management, and data insights.
- Future finance landscape: Embracing cutting-edge technologies to revolutionize financial services, including AI-powered payments, blockchain, enterprise DLT, and programmable money.
- Sustainable and inclusive finance: Enhancing payment technology to contribute to an eco-friendly economy, foster inclusiveness, reduce inequality, and create positive impact through accessible financial services for underserved or climate-vulnerable communities.
