Visa Accelerator Program

The Visa Accelerator Program was created to help startups unlock their growth potential and scale across the Asia Pacific region, by collaborating on joint solutions that address the biggest opportunities in digital payments.
Together with Visa’s payment experts, product architects and business development teams, startups in the Visa Accelerator Program get to rapidly co-develop, test, and iterate new solutions, while pursuing tangible go-to-market opportunities with our extensive network of financial institutions, merchants and digital partners over a course of six months.
Now in its third year, the Visa Accelerator Program has enabled the growth of some of Asia Pacific’s most prominent startups.
Submissions for our 2023 cohort are now closed.
Build the future of commerce with Visa
Web 3.0
How might we shape the development and adoption of Web 3.0 to power transformative new commerce experiences?
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- Payments experiences in the metaverse
- Programmable money
- Digital asset custody
- Non-fungible tokens (NFTs)
- Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs)
- DeFi applications
- Oracles and cross chain interoperability
- Crypto risk, fraud and intelligence
Global Money Movement
How might we optimise the movement of money domestically and across borders, leveraging Visa’s network of networks infrastructure?
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- Cross-border remittances
- Social commerce and the creator economy
- Supply chain payments, supplier onboarding and KYC solutions
- Government disbursements, collections, payouts and procurement
- Treasury-as-a-Service
- Payment-as-a-Service
- Payment infrastructure enablers
Embedded Finance
How might we use advanced intelligence to enhance payment and finance experiences in B2C and B2B connected commerce models?
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- Instalments and flexible financing models
- Consumer loyalty and rewards
- Pre-and-post transaction engagement (e.g. sustainability tracking, transaction controls, PFM)
- Authentication solutions
- Banking-as-a-Service
- Fintech-as-a-Service
- B2B platform enablers
Merchant and Small Business Enablers
How might we use digital payments as a springboard for growth for merchants and small businesses?
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- Next-generation omni-channel and face-to-face payments
- Seller onboarding and KYC solutions
- Merchant loyalty and engagement
- Financing, alternative lending and risk mitigation structures
- Working capital optimisation
- Business process automation
Open Banking
How might we build new data partnership models and account-based payment experiences, leveraging open banking?
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- Digital identity
- Consent management
- Decision modeling to support credit scoring, etc.
- Fair and equitable AI & ML modeling
- Data aggregation solutions
- Payment initiation solutions
- Account-to-Account solutions
Who are we looking for?

Mission Alignment
Startups with solutions addressing one of the following opportunity areas:
- Web 3.0
- Global Money Movement
- Embedded Finance
- Merchant and Small Business Enablers
- Open Banking

Proven Solution
Startups with a market-tested solution that has gained traction
A clearly articulated scope and business rationale for a POC with Visa

Growth Stage
At least 9-12 months runway (Series A and above)
Resources available for POC testing with Visa (startup can dedicate time and focus without impacting core operations)

Asia Pacific Focus
Startups that demonstrate commitment to expanding in Asia Pacific
Existing operations in the region is a plus
Why apply?

Rapid Testing
- Test and validate your solution efficiently through a focused Proof of Concept (POC) to generate maximum impact within a short timeline
- Get equity-free funding of up to US$50,000, at Visa's discretion, to support your POC
- Get business and technical support to build and deploy your solution


Access & Partnerships
- Get exclusive introductions to Visa’s global network of clients and partners
- Explore tailored partnerships and commercialisation opportunities post-program
- Follow-on integration with Visa ecosystem initiatives and programs


Exclusive Mentorship
- Access Visa leadership and subject matter experts to build your roadmap
- Dedicated Visa Sponsor and POC working team, to open doors and champion your startup
- Access Plug & Play’s renowned mentor network to fast track your growth


Scale Your Business
- Expand into new regions with our market-specific expertise
- A fast track for follow-on pilots, commercial agreements, co-creation, and even potential funding for successful POCs across Asia-Pacific
- Get recognised on the global stage as one of the elite startups accepted into the program

Program Timeline

*interviews will be
conducted on a rolling basis



Meet Our Startups
2023 Startups
Dowsure provides digital financing experiences for cross-border merchants on global e-commerce platforms.
Doxa offers a collaborative trade platform that enables automated procure-to-pay and financing workflows for companies operating in a cross-industry ecosystem.
Pi-xcels digitises paper receipts instantly to provide offline retailers with real-time actionable shopper data, via a single tap.
Playbux provides a fully integrated Web 3.0 community platform with commerce activities, blockchain technology, NFTs, and virtual communities.
2022 Startups
Cymonz is an enabler of international payments, providing a highly scalable and configurable payments-as-a-service platform.
2021 Startups
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