Accounting platform alegra and personal finance app Bankity Card will compete against eight other Latin American companies as part of Visa’s Everywhere Initiative, a startup competition for innovative fintech companies. The prize is $50,000 USD.
The competition will take place at FINNOSUMMIT. Organized by fintech accelerator Finnovista, the conference aims to bring together Latin America’s most advanced fintech startups to the city.
Visa’s Everywhere Initiative traveled across Latin America in search of innovative fintech startups. Semifinals were held in Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Santiago, Bogota and Sao Paulo – and from these, 10 startups were chosen to compete in Miami. They’ll go through a 4-day immersion program at FINNOSUMMIT, and then pitch their projects in hopes to win.
Co-founded by Santiago Villegas and Jorge Soto, alegra is a cloud-based accounting tool for SMEs, enabling them to invoice, control expenses, and develop intelligent reports, among other things. Last year, alegra – along with Mexican company Kobra – won the BBVA Open Talent 2016 Latin America competition in Spain.
Bankity Card calls itself the first intelligent card in Latin America. Co-founded by Diego Guzman Guevara and Julian Velez, the card is integrated with a personal finance management app, so users can manage their savings while tracking their spending trends.
At FINNOSUMMIT, both companies will have the chance to connect with fintech experts such as CEO and co-founder of Startupbootcamp FinTech Nektarios Liolios, as well as Jim McCarthy, the Global Head of Innovation & Strategic Partnerships of Visa Inc.
This is the first time FINNOSUMMIT will be held in Miami, and will bring together Latin American fintech industry players to analyze disruptive tech innovations, and debate the future of regulation in the region – particularly, how to regulate the crypto-currency space and protect against money laundering, or financing extremists.