HCM CITY — Nine Vietnamese start-ups on Wednesday took part in the finale of the “Visa’s Everywhere Initiative”, a global innovation programme that tasks up-and-coming businesses with solving some of the most challenging issues in payments and commerce.

The nine represented a diverse cross-section of Việt Nam’s business scene, with interests in everything from recruiting services, to online marketplaces, to food delivery.

They had to submit a solution for one of the following three challenges: How might start-ups leverage social media platforms to create seamless financial/banking experience for millennial segment? How might start-ups give consumers a digital pay-on-delivery solution that meets their needs far better than cash and how might start-ups innovate to expand the acceptance of electronic payments and provide value-added services to merchants?

Of the nine, a winner was selected in each of three prize categories: best proposal, people’s choice award and financial inclusion award.

Lê Mai Tùng, CEO of EyeQ, the overall winner this year, said: “Taking part in Visa’s Everywhere Initiative has been a fantastic opportunity for EyeQ to gain exposure, network with other start-ups and business leaders and generally refine our offering.”

Sean Preston, Visa’s country manager for Việt Nam, Cambodia, and Laos, said: “It’s been incredibly positive to see such a high calibre of businesses taking part in this initiative. It certainly augurs well for the future of the Vietnamese economy, which will in part be carried forward by innovative start-ups such as these. From our perspective, we look forward now to working with the winning businesses to help them realise their ambitious ideas, and ultimately, to make some positive differences in the Vietnamese economy.”

The event was first launched in 2015 to harness the creativity and talent within the start-up community world-wide.

It has so far attracted nearly 2,100 start-ups world-wide, who have collectively raised over US$2 billion in funding.

It is run North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, touching over 40 markets. — VNS