The growth platform
for Fintech stars in SEE.

One program. Three hubs. Borderless access.

Applications are now open until March 21st

The Visa Innovation Program is a fintech pilot-centered collaboration platform spanning across Southeast Europe. The Program is designed to help you scale, supercharge your value proposition and engage with some of the leading financial institutions in Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey.

Core Value Proposition

PoC/Partnership opportunities

Introduction to Visa and Visa’s clients to fast-track, test, validate and implement your solutions within Visa’s vast network of financial institutions and corporate partners.

Personal Concierge

Dedicated support by a prominent design thinking expert throughout the program to guide you and help with all of your business needs and PoC efforts

Region-Wide Market Access

Access to business opportunities across the SEE region and local support from Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey’s most active fintech ecosystem players.

Funding

Connect with some of the leading VC funds from CEE. The most promising companies could receive up to EUR 100k investment from Eleven.

Mentorship

Top level industry mentors with diverse expertise to help you in the most essential aspects of your business.

Vibrant Network

Masterclasses, workshops and peer to peer gatherings for practical knowledge exchange with a diverse entrepreneurial network of global fintech industry luminaries and investors.

Showcasing

Large exposure as part of the Program and recognition from some of the leading payment brands in the world.

Tech Stack

Startup perks (up to$200,000), essential tools and industry data, Visa API’s

Applications are now open until March 21st

The Program in Numbers

389

Number of applications

Accepted Startups

Successful pilots

455

Mentorship hours

168

Meetings with Visa & Banks

€ 19.2 m

Raised by the fintechs

Investor intros

Program Partners

The Visa Innovation Program is run by the collective efforts of our local partners in Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey. They bring their know-how, network, domain expertise and operational resources to make the Program a reality.

Eleven is one of the leading early-stage VC’s in Southeast Europe, investing in startups since 2012. With 150 collective investments over 7 years, Eleven’s team has been instrumental in catalyzing the regional startup ecosystem.

Crowdpolicy provides civic tech and fintech enterprise information systems and open innovation services since 2012 in Greece and Cyprus. Over the years, the team has implemented various open innovation initiatives.

Hackquarters is the leading startup accelerator and corporate innovation partner, based in London and Istanbul, combining superb global reach with deep local knowledge.

The Timeline

Open call for Applications

Program Start

• Workshops
• Design Thinking sprints

Demo Day

Selection

• Discovery sessions
• One-on-One meetings with PoC partners

• PoC/Pilot development
• Mentoring sessions

Challenges

We are looking for the best and brightest companies to address our challenges. The applicants need to provide proven solutions to drive innovation and technological advancement for Visa and Visa’s clients.

If you believe your company addresses one or more of the challenges, you are welcome to apply and become part of the Visa Innovation family.

Empowering SMEs

Accelerate SMEs post COVID-19 pandemic recovery with digital solutions

Support SMEs for opening/growing e-commerce business
Innovate across digital onboarding process chain
Proliferate soft POS use cases with enhanced UI
Bring best of both worlds, online & instore shopping, under hybrid UX
Help SMEs grow business through credit/instalments with innovative models (ex. Buy now, pay later models)
Leveraging PSD2 to allow every SME to become a fintech company

Unlocking new payment flows

Move cash-intensive payments on the card rails

Migrate cash dependent B2B, C2B or B2C payments on card rails, e.g. procurement platforms, merchant charge backs etc. stepping on Visa Direct, B2C connect etc.
Move gig-economy payments (i.e. from employer to gig-workers) on card rails.
Innovate solutions building on Visa’s vision on becoming network of networks, e.g. RTP/A2A, blockchain/distributed ledger, cryptocurrency, etc.

Designing next-gen payments experience

Introduce new type of payment experiences and infrastructure for the post-plastic world

Create financial inclusion and innovative propositions for millennials, un/underbanked, citizens subject to government support
Design aggregated retail banking proposition platforms, e.g. individuals’ management of cash flow, personal finances, investments, savings, etc.
Imagine innovative solutions to digitalize governments payments, i.e. payments to government and disbursements from government
Digitalize end user experience (e.g. digital card issuance, automated credit scoring, instalments, credit at check-out, buy now & pay later)
Create value-added services to enable Visa’s network partners (e.g. fraud management - AML, cybersecurity, digital issuance, payment credentials e.g.)

Building smarter cities

Help governments in embedding payment as part of their digital city experience design efforts

Leverage on open data to roll our digital-first, interconnected, services for tourists and locals in the area of urban mobility, public administration and utilities
Improve the safety and wellbeing for the visitors and local communities via digital tools
Simplify public services’ access and usage in the post-Covid era

Who Should Apply

If your team has already completed a proof of concept related to the proposed challenges or has a market-ready solution, you are the right fit for the Visa Innovation Program.

01

Stage

Startups and scale ups having a market-tested solution

02

Team

An experienced team with entrepreneurial spirit

03

Solution

A solution addressing one of our Challenges

04

Commitment

Dedication for pilot collaboration with banks and enterprises

Applications are now open until March 21st

Fintechs in Season 2

Turkey

Bulgaria