US-based payments services firm Visa has selected three startups as the winners of its Everywhere Initiative, with each receiving $50,000 and an invitiation to a pilot programme, TechCrunch reported yesterday.
The winning ideas are Virgil, a tool for users to assess their competitiveness for a certain career; Flag, a free photo printing service generating revenue through adverts on the back; and Lisnr, an app that detects high-frequency tones in venues and unlocks content.
Visa announced the programme in March 2015, and worked with media company SoulPancake and startup investment software provider Kite to attract applications from 400 startups, which were narrowed down to 15 ahead of a pitching event in front of Visa executives last week.
The initiative’s aim was to identify startups that could help Visa tackle three problems: firstly, to strengthen e-commerce, where users start transactions but never complete 88% of them; secondly, to attract millennials; and thirdly to address that demographic’s set of financial challenges.
Visa also hoped to identify startups that would help it create sucessful loyalty schemes that ensure customers get the most out of their cards.
The selected startups are good news for US president Obama, who called for more diversity last week when he hosted the White House’s first ever demo day. All three of the Everywhere Initiative’s winning startups are led by black founders.
Kayode Owens, head of strategic partnerships at Kite, said: “I think this is a seminal moment for diversity in tech in the Valley. It says that when diverse entrepreneurs are given equal access and opportunity, they are as competitive as any startup founders in the world.”