Mastercard Start Path // Helping Startups Scale Innovation

Mastercard’s award-winning global startup engagement program Mastercard Start Path has added to its portfolio 11 fintech companies who are set to receive dedicated support, access to customers and product teams, and opportunities to co-innovate.

Mastercard has a track record of collaborating with startups. Since founding Start Path in 2014, the company has uncovered co-innovation opportunities and provided mentorship to more than 260 startups that have gone on to collectively raise more than $5 billion in capital.

“Through Start Path, Mastercard creates a springboard for fintech companies that are driving a more inclusive digital economy and helps them accelerate the way they change the world,” shared Amy Neale, Senior Vice President, Fintech & Enablers.

Among the 11 startups that joined Mastercard Start Path Global Network was Kwara, the Kilimani based startup transforming credit unions into modern, digital banks with a credit union operating system and neobank experience for their members. Other startups that have been selected to participate in Mastercard Start Path include Finmod, Flourish Savings, GenEQTY, Karri, KeyChain Pay, Layer, Osper, Swap, upSWOT, and Wellthi.

The startups are using gamification, behavioural science, social banking platforms, and more to modernize payments. Of this group, GenEQTY, Finmod, and Wellthi are joining the new Mastercard Start Path track dedicated to supporting early-stage startups led by founders from backgrounds underrepresented in the fintech space as part of Mastercard’s In Solidarity commitments.

“We’ve seen tremendous growth across the fintech landscape, and more people are benefitting from the digital economy than ever before, whether they’re gaining access to credit for their small business through open banking or securely making payments to their child’s school from the comfort of their smartphone,” said Amy Neale.

Mastercard opens door to startups around the world looking to grow platforms across open banking, predictive financial modelling for small businesses, smart rental payments, and beyond.

About the Startups

The following startups are joining this growing network to rapidly scale their business:

• Finmod helps small and medium-sized businesses forecast financials 10 times faster and make financial decisions in real-time.
• Flourish FI is an engagement and financial wellness platform for financial institutions, using gamification and behavioural science to empower individuals to establish positive money habits and achieve financial security.
• GenEQTY offers a smarter digital banking solution to help small businesses and solopreneurs improve financial performance, manage business health and get faster access to funding through one central data-driven business hub.
• Karri is a mobile payment app that facilitates fast and easy payments to schools and community organizations and provides parents with a convenient way to manage their child’s money.
• KeyChain Pay is a smart platform for landlords and tenants to collect and pay rent using AI and credit card tokenization.
• Kwara is transforming credit unions into modern, digital banks with a credit union operating system and neobank experience for their members.
• Layer’s digital banking platform delivers a blend of traditional and neo-bank capabilities from one platform, dramatically reducing cost, revolutionizing the customer journey, and enabling banks and non-financial institutions to become truly digital.
• Osper empowers young people to earn, spend and save; its new B2B platform, Prosper, allows any company to launch their own youth card scheme in weeks at a fraction of the cost of building in-house.
• Swap is a Brazil-based platform that empowers businesses to embed financial services to expand their footprint, deliver unmatched product experiences and boost their economies.
• upSWOT offers a white-labelled business health dashboard that powers online and mobile banking platforms with 150+ API-enabled apps.
• Wellthi builds social banking solutions to help clients leverage the power of AI, data, and online communities to attract and retain new customer segments by turning every card into a community.

As the fintech landscape continues to evolve and diversify, Mastercard embraces opportunities to support and collaborate with digital players to unlock potential and build the next generation of commerce.

Apply Today!

Ready to scale your business with Mastercard as your global partner? Apply to Start Path here. To learn about trends in the fintech industry, check out the latest report by Start Path and KoreFusion here.