MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Visa Everywhere Initiative Accepting Applications for $500k Fintech Innovation Competition

US-based payment technology firm Visa and TechCrunch, a media company owned by US-based technology firm Yahoo, recently opened the Visa Everywhere Initiative 2022, a contest awarding USD 500,000 in prizes to firms that “deliver innovative payment and commerce solutions.” Applicants apply based on their home region: North America; Europe; Asia-Pacific; Latin America; or Central Europe, Middle East and Africa. Application closing dates vary by region, with the latest falling on June 14, 2022. The finalists will compete for the grand prize of USD 100,000 in Qatar in November 2022. In addition to the global contest, the Visa Everywhere Initiative is offering separate competitions for projects centered around the Black, Female and LGBTQ+ communities. The minimum prize for each element of the competition is USD 10,000.

Since its founding in 2015, the Visa Everywhere Initiative has entertained applications from a total of 8,500 startups and disbursed USD 16 billion in prizes. You may apply to the Visa Everywhere Initiative 2022 competition at https://visaeverywhere.typeform.com/to/l31UBPUi.

Visa partners with financial institutions to provide consumers with credit, debit and prepaid cards that can be used at merchants in 200 countries. Visa also offers payment and consulting services for commercial clients. As of July 2021, Visa reported total assets of USD 82 billion.

The TechCrunch website hosts 9 million visitors from the US each month.

By Adhya Singh, Research Associate

Sources and Additional Resources

Visa Everywhere Initiative 2022 press release
https://usa.visa.com/visa-everywhere/everywhere-initiative/initiative.html

Yahoo profile on Techcrunch
https://www.adtech.yahooinc.com/our-brands/techcrunch

Visa homepage
https://visa.com/

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