Mastercard is inviting startups to address challenges within the credit card giant’s operations while taking part in its small business program that offers the company’s network access.

The company on Wednesday announced its selection of five startups for its four-month Start Path Small Business program, the latest innovation cohort within Mastercard; the small business program joins four other groups: open banking, underrepresented fintech founders, crypto and emerging fintech, Sabrina Tharani Libby, senior vice president of global fintech programs at Mastercard, told Bank Automation News.

“Start Path is not actually an accelerator, we are an engagement model that really tries to help what we consider later stage, series A, series B companies, scale by providing them unparalleled access to our network,” she said.

The focus for the new cohort is de-risking new technologies among startups, while helping the platforms scale.

Through the program, the startups gain access to Mastercard infrastructure, product technology and expertise across the organization, she said.

Selection process

Mastercard receives around 2,000 applications annually, and accepts only 50 companies into the Start Path program, which addresses problem areas for Mastercard, Tharani Libby said.

In selecting startups, Mastercard first evaluates specific needs within the business, she said.

“We’re really looking to work with companies that are going to help us solve a key pain point that we’ve identified or that one of our customers has identified for us,” she said.

For example, Mastercard worked with United Arab Emirates startup Dapi to help scale Mastercard’s account-to-account infrastructure, she said, noting, that Dapi and Mastercard combined their open banking capabilities to improve the process.

“The partnership between a startup and a corporation is really about being able to harness their technology to improve outcomes for our business or for our customers’ business and in turn, helping them scale and succeed,” Tharani Libby said.

Start Path

Since launching Start Path in 2014, Mastercard and has worked with 400 startups in 42 countries, according to a company release.

The small business cohort includes small- and medium-sized enterprise payments solutions startups, including Complo, DigiAlly, PayGoal, Tribe Fintech and Uome, according to the release.

“Startups are building really innovative solutions that matter to the future of Mastercard’s business,” Tharani Libby said.