CEMEA finals of Visa Everywhere Initiative, a global innovation competition for fintech start-ups, to be livestreamed on TechCrunch on July 27

CEMEA finals of Visa Everywhere Initiative, a global innovation competition for fintech start-ups, to be livestreamed on TechCrunch on July 27

·       Riyadh: Gulf Tech News

headquartered Amwal Tech will represent Saudi Arabia in the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEMEA) regional finals on July 27, 2023

·       The winner of the CEMEA competition will receive $20,000 USD monetary prize from Visa and the chance to compete for $50,000 USD at the VEI global finals in September at Disrupt Conference by TechCrunch in San Francisco.
 
Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 20 July 2023: Visa has announced that the Central Europe, Middle East, and Africa (CEMEA) finals of the Visa Everywhere Initiative (VEI) will be livestreamed on TechCrunch on July 27, 2.00 PM GST. Winners of VEI – a global open innovation competition that sees start-ups pitch their solutions for tomorrow’s payment and commerce challenges – stand to gain monetary prizes, global exposure, and access to Visa’s international network of partners.

The CEMEA competition follows sub-regional competitions held in Saudi Arabia, Kenya, and South Africa, with the winners of each in-country competition progressing to the regional finale along with remaining participants from across CEMEA.

Also
In the upcoming CEMEA competition, Amwal Tech will represent Saudi Arabia. Founded in 2022, Amwal Tech offers biometric authentication-based payment solutions that combine identity verification, fraud prevention, and payment processing into a single API. Amwal Tech is currently operational with over 30 merchants, boasts more than 70,000 registered users, and has successfully processed over 200,000 transactions since launch 6 months ago.

Aside from the 1st place prize of $20,000 USD, live audiences can vote to award an Audience Favorite prize of $10,000 USD. New for 2023, there is a special Fintechs Innovating in Risk Excellence (FIIRE) Award for Risk start-ups worth $25,000 USD. Supported by the UAE-based bank Emirates NBD Group, the FIIRE prize rewards start-ups from across CEMEA whose solution includes a security or risk element that has the potential to transform the payments landscape.
This year also saw a newly added Impact award in Saudi Arabia, Kenya, and South Africa. This award seeks to reward entrepreneurs who have built solutions that have a positive social impact on the communities they serve.

“The Visa Everywhere Initiative offers fintechs and entrepreneurs a platform to secure valuable funding, visibility with important industry stakeholders, and validation from one of the world’s most trusted brands and significant ecosystem partners,” said Otto Williams, Senior Vice President, Head of Products, Partnerships & Digital Solutions for Visa CEMEA. “Through our partnership with TechCrunch – one of the world’s most respected business, technology, and entrepreneurship media houses – winners and participants in VEI get to showcase their most innovative, sector-transformative solutions on a truly global stage.”

The CEMEA winner will go on to the VEI global finale at TechCrunch’s Disrupt event in San Francisco in September, competing against regional winners representing North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, for the chance to win the $50,000 USD prize, among other potential rewards.
Since the competition’s launch in the US in 2015, VEI has gone on to help start-ups representing more than 100 countries to raise over US$16 billion in funding. The VEI network of start-ups is now close to 12,000.

The CEMEA finals of the Visa Everywhere Initiative will be livestreamed on TechCrunch’s website on July 27 at 2.00 PM GST.
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