MasterCard and Silicon Valley Bank have made their selections for the upcoming round of Commerce.Innovated., a program aimed at helping commerce-focused companies grow their businesses. Yesterday (May 28), the companies announced the five startups which they have chosen to join in the third annual accelerator program.
The participants, which span the U.S., include B2B eCommerce payments firm Apruve, based in Minnesota.
According to a Silicon Valley Bank release, the virtual program lasts four months and is geared toward bringing the companies’ operational and network expertise to startups.
To qualify for the program, which launched in 2014, companies must have a solution in place that improves commerce, and have seed funding in place or be in the process of fundraising. Since the program’s debut, Commerce.Innovated. has mentored and worked with 10 commerce-focused startups. Previous startup participants include, among others, CardFlight, Dash, Gone! (a youthful startup which has since gone national with the help of UPS), and PayByGroup.
“We’re thrilled to launch the next class of the Commerce.Innovated. program,” said Reetika Grewal, Head of Silicon Valley Bank’s payments strategy, in the statement announcing the new class. “There continues to be a tremendous amount of innovation in the commerce sector and we are excited to be working with these amazing, early stage companies.
“Our unique, operationally-focused program is designed to help these remarkable entrepreneurs grow their businesses quickly and find the resources that they need in order to achieve their next milestone.”
The remaining participates chosen include AppZen, an expense reporting software based in California; Footmarks, a beacon platform based in Washington; Nowsta, a logistics/labor management platform maker from New York; and SnapUp, a product tracking app company from California.
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