Masraff wins Mastercard Lighthouse Türkiye startup acceleration program 2024-2025

The initiative aims to support the development of the country’s fintech ecosystem and boost its global competitiveness

Masraff has emerged as the winner of the 2024-2025 Mastercard Lighthouse Türkiye startup acceleration program, launched to support the development of the country’s fintech ecosystem. The winner was announced at the grand finale of the program that took place on February 18 at the Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at the Bosphorus.

The inaugural edition of the initiative witnessed a high uptake, with more than 100 submissions received from innovative startups across the country. Six finalists – Assistbox, Crait AI, Masraff, MonoPayments, Sanction Scanner and TransferChain – were selected to receive training and mentorship support and connect with Mastercard's global network and investors in the run-up to the final pitch.

Masraff, which optimizes financial tracking processes with instant reports supported by artificial intelligence that it provides to its users, was chosen as this year's winner with its innovative solution for cost management.

Only 5% of the world consists of entrepreneurs, which means that only 5% of the world has the courage to risk their time and equity. At Mastercard, we believe that disruptive startups have the power to usher in a new era of fintech. As one of the top 20 companies in the world, with this program that we brought to our country with the aim of increasing the global competitiveness of our fintech ecosystem, we are promising our entrepreneurs a value that money cannot buy, namely trust and reputation. Within the scope of the Lighthouse program, our entrepreneurs have access to more than 30 thousand stakeholders that Mastercard works directly with. In addition, as Mastercard Advisors, we are one of the largest consulting firms in Türkiye and we share our strategic perspective and field experience with our entrepreneurs. Not only that, but we also provide one-on-one coaching and mentoring support to our participants. During this process, the extraordinary development of our entrepreneurs in the 2024-2025 period was inspiring. I would like to thank each of them for their professionalism and the value they added to our program. In the new term, we will continue to share critical knowledge and solutions in our areas of expertise and support the participants with our advisory team,” said Avşar Gürdal, general manager, Türkiye and Azerbaijan, Mastercard, in his opening speech.

The grand finale of Mastercard Lighthouse Türkiye brought together representatives of Mastercard Türkiye and key players from the country’s financial ecosystem. The agenda featured insightful sessions, such as ‘From Türkiye to the World: Building Global Technology Companies’, where Fırat İşbecer, founder and CEO, Dataroid, provided inspiring suggestions for startups to leverage their local experience to strengthen their global capabilities. In addition, a panel titled ‘The Role of Women in the Startup Ecosystem’ explored the increasing impact of female entrepreneurs in the fintech sector and the opportunities encountered in this field. The speakers emphasized the importance of promoting gender equality in the fintech world and supporting women on their entrepreneurial journeys.

The Mastercard Lighthouse startup acceleration program offers participants the opportunity to work one-on-one with Mastercard’s top-level strategic mentors and experts, attend various training programs and benefit from operational support with the aim of fast-tracking their growth. The initiative enables startups to connect with local and global business partners, facilitates access to investors, accelerates fundraising processes and provides advantages for startups seeking financial support.

After achieving significant success in the Nordic and Baltic regions, Mastercard Lighthouse expanded into Türkiye last year. Since its launch in 2018, the initiative has facilitated over 150 partnerships and more than €280 million in investments while producing several unicorns. The program will continue in the new term with the aim of taking Türkiye’s innovative fintech startups to the global stage.

For more information about the 2024-2025 finalists, see Mastercard Lighthouse