Digital assets & cryptocurrency startups join Mastercard Start Path program

As interest in cryptocurrencies and digital assets grows, a new cohort will join the Mastercard Start Path Crypto startup engagement program, which is focused to using blockchain technology to explore and solve real-world challenges for individuals and organizations around the world. Ava Labs, Envel, Kash, LVL, and NiftyKey are the five new startups that have joined the program, according to Mastercard.

Jess Turner, executive vice president of New Digital Infrastructure & Fintech at Mastercard says, “The past year has seen incredible momentum in the world of crypto assets, from the explosion of NFTs to the piloting of central bank digital currencies in countries across the world.”

He added, “As we look to what’s next, it’s all about finding new use cases and problems blockchain technology can solve for now and in the future. Whether it’s enhancing financial freedom or new value-added service using stablecoins, we believe our new cohorts of Start Path crypto and digital assets companies combined with Mastercard’s expertise in the space will accelerate access to new ways to pay and prioritize choice for consumers and businesses.”

Mastercard Developers provides an express lane for fintech startups of all sizes to build, launch, and grow through this program and the rest of the Mastercard Developers portfolio. Mastercard is always expanding its services and introducing new cutting-edge technologies so that builders and dreamers from all around the world may interact with the company, create quickly, and bring new products to market quickly.

These companies will engage with Mastercard’s ecosystem of partners throughout the world through this unique program to expand and accelerate blockchain technology innovation. They’ll look at new value-added services and blockchain protocol development prospects to help consumers, businesses, and developers innovate and grow in a safer and easier way.

The new participants selected for the program are:

• Ava Labs – Ava Labs makes it simple to develop decentralized applications using Avalanche, the blockchain industry’s fastest smart contract platform in terms of time to completion. The Avalanche blockchain provides a quick, low-cost, and environmentally friendly platform for developing decentralized finance, enterprise use cases, digital collectibles, and other solutions.
• Envel – Envel is a mobile banking app driven by artificial intelligence that automates budgeting, payments, savings, and investments in real-time. Envel wants to include the USDC stable coin as well as blockchain technologies into its platform.
• Kash – Kash is a peer-to-peer network that uses decentralized technology to make it simple and affordable for people to save, invest, and spend money. Kash is looking into ways to use stable coins to solve for financial freedom, including the ability to save, invest, and guard against inflation, as well as develop wealth through high-interest deposits.
•  LVL — LVL is a Bitcoin banking software that allows users to buy and trade Bitcoin for free, receive payments through its banking platform, pay for goods and services with the LVL-issued Mastercard, and learn how to invest in Bitcoin effortlessly.
• NiftyKey – The Boson Protocol connects NiftyKey, a crypto rewards network. It enables financial institutions to deliver non-fungible token-based loyalty goods and services to their consumers (NFTs). Using Boson Protocol’s redemption infrastructure, NiftyKey’s NFT-based loyalty rewards program connects the metaverse with the physical world, allowing companies to reward physical and digital products in the metaverse as NFTs.

The new cohort is an important aspect of Mastercard’s digital assets strategy. The curriculum will focus on applying blockchain technology to solve real-world challenges and provide access to value-added services and innovative offers.

Enterprises interested in joining the Start Path portfolio of blockchain, digital asset, or crypto companies are urged to apply.