Quicker expansion abroad: How new accelerator is paying off for Asia Pacific-focused fintech startups

Three months after graduating from Visa's inaugural Accelerator Program, open finance technology startup Brankas raised US$20 million that it is using to scale its network and expand its product range across Southeast Asia. Five startups are now hoping to emulate Brankas's success as they start on their own six-month journey with the Visa Accelerator Program.

Brankas jointly developed with Visa a digital credit card issuance proposition using the payment expert's data capabilities. The firm develops software intermediaries, or Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), that banks can use for real-time payments, identity data and remittances.

This year, Singapore-based startup TripleA, one of five firms selected for Visa's Accelerator Program, will be developing its crypto payment gateway that is designed to work with a range of services from retail point-of-sales to e-commerce and international remittances.

"We believe that this partnership presents a remarkable opportunity for us to tap on the reach of Visa's global network, allowing us to enable more businesses and partners to accept cryptocurrency payments. With Visa's market insights, mentorship and technical expertise, our team will be able to bring TripleA to the next level," says TripleA founder and chief executive Eric Barbier.

Entry into the Accelerator Program provides fintech startups a fast-tracked path to pilots, partnerships, and commercialisation, says Visa.

TripleA and the other startups in this year's cohort - payments-as-a-service offering Cymonz, financial data aggregation and data portability startup Moneytree, financial statement analysis software solution Perfios, and SME-focused digital platform TallyKhata - were selected from hundreds of applications across Asia Pacific.

The application for the second year of the Visa Accelerator Program follows the soaring global investment in the payments sector, in line with the acceleration of digital payments as well as the increasing demand for new solutions such as the installment payments scheme Buy Now Pay Later or BNPL.

The payments sector was the biggest beneficiary of global investment in fintech, raising US$51.7 billion, or around 25 per cent of the US$210 billion worth of fintech venture capital, private equity, and mergers and acquisitions in 2021, according to global consultancy firm KPMG.

Visa's Accelerator Program fast-tracks payment solutions for use across Asia Pacific, a region that, according to KPMG, pulled in a record deal volume of US$27.5 billion for the fintech sector as a whole in 2021.

"Globally, nearly 30 per cent more fintechs issued Visa credentials in the last year, and they nearly doubled their payments volume. Together, we can help bring more individuals and businesses into the digital economy," says Mr Kunal Chatterjee, Visa country manager for Singapore and Brunei.

KPMG also stressed that cryptocurrencies and blockchain are expected to stay "very hot areas" of investment in 2022 as more firms look to regulators for clear guidance.

This could bode well for crypto payments startup TripleA. The company has secured a licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to offer digital payment token services in Singapore.

"We are in a phase of rapid growth at the moment, and our priority is to streamline our processes and optimise our sales cycles. Through the Visa Accelerator Program, we hope to optimise our workflows, scale our business operations and enable more businesses to accept cryptocurrencies," says Mr Barbier.

Visa has not only committed its own extensive scale and capabilities, but also roped in 500 Startups, the global venture capital firm with more than US$2.7 billion in assets under management. 500 Startups has 12 years of experience with its own international accelerator.

As Visa's partner for the accelerator, 500 Startups is supporting the programme by managing the startup recruitment and selection, programme design and delivery, as well as mentorship and management of key events such as Demo Day, where the chosen startups will have the opportunity to pitch their new payment solutions to Visa's extensive network of banks, merchants, government and venture partners.

With 500 Startups mentorship thrown in the mix, the key goal is to help startups create clear-cut commercial opportunities to collaborate on new payment solutions with Visa, making the Accelerator Program a win-win for all.

"The goal of the Visa Accelerator Program remains the same - to help startups scale their solutions and expand into new markets. We'll continue to define a path for each startup to keep engaging with Visa and our partners on opportunities like product development pilots, commercialisation, partnerships, or corporate development," says Mr Chatterjee.

To find out more about the Visa Accelerator Program, visit this link.