Mastercard, a leading technology company in the global payments industry, has launched its first Start Path Summit in Dubai, bringing together a dynamic group of fintech and tech startups. The event featured 11 of the latest global companies to join the program, spanning artificial intelligence (AI), big data, e-commerce, security, financial inclusion and payments, pitching their innovative solutions in financial services and commerce at the summit.
Attended by Mastercard’s partners and local leadership team, the event highlighted new opportunities in the banking and financial services sector and gave those companies attending an opportunity to explore partnerships with the innovators to bring new consumer experiences to the region.
“Fintech startups are championing innovation in financial technologies to rethink banking and payments to usher in a digital future. In line with our vision of promoting innovation, Mastercard Start Path has been providing startups with the mentorship needed for long-term success. We are proud to have achieved a new milestone by bringing this distinctive initiative to the Middle East,” said Deborah Barta, Senior Vice President, Innovation Channel Management & Startup Engagement, Mastercard.
Start Path is a global program run by the Mastercard Labs team, the global Research & Development arm of Mastercard and has been providing operational support, commercial access and strategic investment for startups that are reshaping the future of commerce. Since launching, the program has evaluated roughly 2,000 startups per year and engaged more than 150 of them around the world.
Startups and fintechs that took part in the event in Dubai are:
- DefinedCrowd, which offers a platform that collects, refines and structures training data for AI and ML systems
- Identitii, a payment overlay that enables secure and trusted information exchange, between banks and their customers
- HANZO, which offers a SAAS platform that enables merchants to interact with consumers through their smartphones
- Iguama, a company that enables cross-border e-commerce to shop on any U.S. websites from Latin America
- MarketUp, a 100% free ERP and POS software for SMEs, as well as a one-stop-shop for management and sales
- Lidya, which helps small businesses in emerging markets access credit within a day
- James (by CrowdProcess), a credit risk AI for lenders that would increase acceptance rate and reduce credit operation cots
- OpenSparkz, an offers and rewards enablement platform that creates better experiences for consumers and merchants
- SnapSwap, which offers a fully automated digital customer onboarding solution for financial services
- Vouchr, an engagement layer on top of existing payment technology
- The Wallet App, which aggregates and digitizes all loyalty, bank and transport cards in a smartphone to be used for shopping.
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