Submissions are now open for the Techstars Payments Accelerator Program which focuses on innovative fintech solutions addressing gaps across payments infrastructure.
Techstars is looking for bold founders in the fintech space that recognize the massive opportunity across emerging markets, and who are already using or are interested in using blockchain to scale their technology across the following themes: digital wallets, infrastructure, transactions/ecommerce, credit/debt, digital identity, infrastructure as a service, and financial literacy.
Techstars is the worldwide network that helps entrepreneurs succeed. As one of the largest pre-seed investors in the world, they’ve funded over 3,200 companies that have gone on to have a market cap of $79B+.
Techstars portfolio companies include more than 100 companies with valuations of over $100M, and 19 of them have already reached unicorn status including SendGrid, ClassPass, and Chainalysis.
Areas of Interest
- Cross-Border Payments
- Blockchain
- Digital Wallets & Fintech Apps
- Digital Identity & KYC
- Financial Infrastructure as a Service
- Payroll
- Retail Services
- Transactions & E-commerce
- Micropayments
- Financial Literacy
Benefits of participation
- Access to Techstars resources for life
- Acceleration in a 90-day Techstars mentorship-driven accelerator program with personal mentorship and office space
- Lifetime access to the Techstars worldwide network of entrepreneurs, including more than 10,000 mentors, 10,000 investors, 1,600 alumni companies, and over 200 staff members
- Access to over $400k of cash equivalent hosting, accounting, and legal support—plus other credits and perks worth more than $5M
- Demo Day exposure and other investor connections.
Funding Information
Each company receives up to $120,000 in funding, and access to the worldwide network of investors, hands-on mentorship, and over $4M of perks.
Criteria for participation
They fund all types of startups, working in most verticals, using any type of business models. Do keep in mind, however, that the focus is on startups rather than small businesses.
They do their best to avoid accepting competitive companies into the same program class. However, with the growing number of Techstars companies, there may be competitive companies in the broader Techstars network.In the event there is a company in the Techstars portfolio that’s competitive, they work tirelessly to ensure there is no exchange of sensitive data.
The primary language that they use in verbal and written communications during all accelerator programs—in every country—is English.
How to apply
Click here to apply for the Techstars Payments Accelerator. The deadline for application is Wednesday, October 4, 2023.