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Seeking innovative solutions to support small business growth at scale
The Strive Community Innovation Fund aims to spark new ideas for catalyzing small businesses’ resilience and growth, at scale.
Organized by Mastercard Foundation the fund is looking for truly innovative solutions that can be transformative for these small enterprises which are the backbone of our economies.
The fund makes available up to $1m for digital and data first solutions that enable small businesses with fewer than 10 employees to digitize their operations, better use financial services, or participate more effectively in digital marketplaces. Successful applicants will each receive up to $200,000 to develop and test their innovation over a 12 – 18 month period.
Project eligibility
Proposed projects must:
- Leverage digital and data first solutions
- Have potential for measurable positive impact on small business growth
- Propose implementation outside of the US and Canada
- Organizational eligibility
Applicants can be:
- Single organizations or a consortium of multiple organizations
- Non-profits, social enterprises, start-ups, and others
- Companies or multinational corporations (subject to matched funding requirements)
Why should you apply?
Being a Strive Community Innovation Fund grantee is your opportunity to build and test the most innovative and experimental solutions that you may not have otherwise been able to pursue. In addition to funding, you will have access to Strive Community and Mastercard expertise, as well as a great opportunity for exposure, publicity and access to funding, mentorship and visibility.
What are MasterCard is looking for?
Through the Strive initiative, Mastercard is looking to test new products, features, services and business models, not fund the scale up of business-as-usual solutions.
They want to test new innovations developed by organizations with an existing track record of working with small businesses, not entirely new entities. They seek solutions that have potential for impact at scale, not those which are highly sector or market specific. We will not fund the development of training content or business-as-usual products and services with this fund.
About the Strive Initiative by Mastercard
Small businesses are engines of economic growth and the key to an inclusive recovery. Yet many are struggling to adapt to rapid digital transformation in the wake of the pandemic.
Strive Community, a global initiative launched by Caribou Digital and the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, will equip five million small business owners with innovative digital solutions that unleash their potential as catalysts of inclusive growth.
