Visa Seeks Asia-Pacific Startups for Accelerator Program

Visa is launching another round of its accelerator program and is looking for startups from the Asia-Pacific region to take part.

“The Visa Accelerator Program focuses on helping startups in Asia-Pacific expand their business into new markets, with a strong emphasis on identifying commercial opportunities for the startups to collaborate with Visa and its extensive network of bank, merchant and government partners in the region,” the company said in a statement on Wednesday (Nov 3).

According to Visa, the 2022 cohort will deal with some of the region’s most critical financial and technological issues in the region, such as expanding and simplifying the movement of money between consumers, businesses and governments.

The project will also explore ways of delivering on newer payment methods, such as digital currencies, through the adoption of blockchain, the company said.

“As the world transitions from a pandemic to an endemic state, there is great demand for digital-first experiences that shape new thinking around digital currencies and open data. And many startups have developed new innovations to tap these opportunities,” said Chris Clark, regional president, Asia-Pacific, Visa.

Applications for the program will run until Jan. 9 of next year, with the program kicking off in the middle of April 2022.

Read more: Visa Teams With Ascenda for Loyalty Rewards in Asia-Pacific

Earlier this year, Visa announced a partnership with the Singapore-headquartered global loyalty rewards startup Ascenda to promote new programs for customers in the Asia-Pacific region.

Visa was the first payment network to take advantage of Ascenda’s new Nexus platform, according to Clark. He said that as the company’s business moves beyond the limits of cards, loyalty schemes have become “more digital, more engaging, more personalized,” which makes it increasingly important to “adapt to new opportunities.”