Visa’s Everywhere Initiative is a global innovation program that tasks start-ups to solve payments and commerce challenges of tomorrow, further enhance their own product propositions and provide visionary solutions for Visa’s vast network of partners. The program first launched in the U.S. in 2015 and quickly expanded into a global program with more than 2,100 participating start-ups, which have collectively raised over $2 billion in funding, with more than 131 finalists and 36 winners selected. The program activates in North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa, touching over 40 countries.
Submissions for the 2018 program were accepted from March 19th until April 23rd. Nine selected startups then presented in the USA Semifinals at Visa’s global headquarters in San Francisco on May 31st. Visa’s Everywhere Initiative concluded this year with four finalists presenting at the Visa Payments Forum in Washington D.C., where Visa executives and hundreds of Visa clients attended.
2018 Overall Winner: AiFi
2018 Challenge Winners: Shippo and GoSave
2018 Audience Favorite Award: Valyant AI
How can startups help merchants drive greater loyalty and conversion with new and existing customers?
Semi-Finalists:
How can startups augment their products with voice, messaging and artificial intelligence solutions to drive more powerful financial management or commerce experiences?
Semi-Finalists
Get excited for the 2018 Visa’s Everywhere Initiative by seeing what some of our previous winners had to say.
Explore our APIs on the Visa Developer Platform to integrate into your pitch.
Certify your product with the tools and expertise of the Visa Ready team.
When evaluating submissions for VEI, we look for startups that have ideas relevant to Visa’s business, a product in market, traction with early customers, and early funding from external investors.
10 finalists from 5 different Latin American countries competed to win the Visa’s Everywhere Initiative LAC finals at Finnovista fintech conference in Miami. These finals consisted of 3 days of workshops and mentoring sessions for the participating startups before the final pitches.
Working to solve challenges around Airport Transit, Acceptance, and Loyalty, 190 startups competed in the Visa’s Everywhere Initiative MENA challenge. Finalists came from across the Middle East and North Africa region to the finals in Dubai.
Following an announcement at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Visa launched the first European competition and hosted the finals in Copenhagen at Money 20/20 Europe. 197 startups submitted to pitch to Visa executives to take home the trophy and prize.
With 90 startups across 3 different challenges, Visa’s Everywhere Initiative launched with the fifteen finalists pitching in Sydney in September 2016. Specific challenges focused on solving consumer and commercial business problems with Visa APIs.
Just a few months after the conclusion of the second US competition, Visa’s Everywhere Initiative launched internationally with a competition in China, receiving over 100 submissions. Challenges included Engaging the next Generation of Consumers, Connecting with Cardholders, and Driving Cross-Border and Ecommerce Usage.
The first Visa Everywhere Initiative launched in the US with 398 applicants, challenging startups with objectives around Inspiring Millennials, Rewarding Members, and Digital Commerce. See below to view the 2015 winners or keep scrolling to learn more about VEI’s history.
Visa’s Everywhere Initiative expands to Europe with a live competition in Barcelona.
APIs and documentation for Visa’s most popular digital payment technologies.
An innovative space to jointly develop the next generation of commerce applications.
