Women-Led and Sustainable Startups Stand Out Among the Strong Lineup for This Autumn’s Edition of Mastercard Lighthouse FINITIV

Today, Mastercard is revealing the 15 tech startups that will be joining the fall edition of Mastercard Lighthouse FINITIV program. Since its launch in 2018, Lighthouse has facilitated thousands of partnership interactions between Mastercard partner banks and innovative startups from around the Nordics and Baltics. This fall, the program will be kicked off in Stockholm, Helsinki and Tallinn while utilizing the benefits of a hybrid setup between physical and digital interactions.

Mastercard launched Lighthouse FINITIV program to build lasting partnerships with the goal of strengthening the financial ecosystem in the Nordic and Baltic regions. The FINITIV program brings startups, banks, investors and advisors together to scale innovative ideas. In 2020, Lighthouse expanded to a second program, MASSIV, which focuses on scaling impact technology startups globally.

In recent years, the line between financial and sustainable solutions has become increasingly blurred, while there is a stronger need among financial players to identify key partnerships with young innovative technology companies that can support the transition to a sustainable society. This is evidenced by the fact that a third of the selected startups in the FINITIV program are building solutions that can advance the transformation to a more sustainable world.

Another remarkable change that stands out this autumn is that six of the selected companies are startups that are founded or led by women, which is significant, as the corresponding proportion across the fintech industry is significantly lower. The efforts to support more female founders in financial services space is part of Mastercard´s global priorities of inclusion, opportunity and empowerment.

Mastercard Lighthouse team is planning some activities this fall to return in person while continuing to utilize the efficiency of digital meetings for most of the partnership discussions.

• “We are continuously making improvements to the program and can see how our mission to strengthen the financial ecosystem in the region is succeeding through the many partnerships established. With each program we continue to be amazed by the number of high quality companies looking to join”, says Mats Taraldsson, Head of Innovation, Fintech and impact-tech Engagement, Mastercard Nordic and Baltic.

During the program, companies will be able to meet in a one-on-one setting with all the program partners and eventually pitch in front of investors. Besides meetings with Mastercard and banking partners, startups will receive guidance from Mastercard Marketing and Communication teams in making their story and messaging clear and enticing.

• (Sweden) “We are pleased to be part of the Lighthouse FINITIV program again this fall. Our team is looking forward to meeting new exciting fintechs for the main purpose of exploring synergies and bringing even more value to our existing and future clients across segments. Swedbank already has multiple long-lasting partnerships with fintechs and we are looking to further explore opportunities with new players," says Medjit Yalmze, Head of Fintech Investments at Swedbank.
  
  
• (Finland) “Our team is looking forward to meeting new exciting fintechs for the main purpose of exploring synergies and bringing even more value to our existing and future clients across segments. OP Financial Groups is already working with several Nordic-made fintech companies and has experience in creating successful partnerships" – says Anton Danielsen, Head of Startup Partnerships at OP Financial Group.
  
  
• (Baltics) We are extremely pleased to be part of the Lighthouse FINITIV program year after year as one of the main partner banks in order to explore mutually beneficial opportunities with innovative fintechs. Several successful partnerships have come through the program and we see this engagement part of our partnership strategy. We believe that by cooperation we develop better financial services for the whole society,” says Audrius Rutkauskas, Head of Innovation center at SEB Lithuania.

Meet the Lighthouse FINITIV Fall Edition of 2021:

Sweden edition:

• Trust Anchor Group make the world smarter by connecting existing infrastructure with cutting edge IoT technology and smart payments.
• Billender is a buy now, pay later solution for invoices.
• Wrebit is a complete accounting and invoicing program, fully automated and free, all in one app, only for self-employed.
• Tapster makes life easier by developing new form factors for payments, access and commuting.
• EASI is a pat pending tech to digitize, automate, control and reduce cost for B2B transaction information administration.
• Fimento is a SaaS company developing tools for embedded finance solutions.

Finland edition:

• eMabler enables business growth in electric vehicle charging with API-first eMobility platform.
• Yonoton is a versatile omnichannel SaaS platform for digital ordering and payments.
• Bleam is a B2B SaaS platform enabling frictionless payment initiation.
• EcoFric simplifies sustainability for SME's (ESG) and Financial institutions (EU taxonomy) based in Norway.

Estonia edition:

• CUPLOOP provides fully automated last mile solution for reusable packages collecting, sorting and deposit refund.
• Single Earth tokenizes nature (forests, wetlands, etc) and makes it tradable as carbon/biodiversity assets.
• Fairown is a subscription financing API for global brands like Apple, Stihl, HP and others.
• Abill.io is developing a gig-economy payments gateway based in Latvia.
• Pelt8 is a Switzerland-based company providing a platform for organisations to collect, analyse, manage and report ESG & sustainability data.