- GamerG received a cash prize worth USD 20,000 and will progress to the Global Finals in San Francisco for a chance to win USD 100,000
- GamerG also won the ‘Audience Favorite’ award and an additional cash prize of USD 10,000
- Finalists representing Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, South Africa, and Nigeria presented groundbreaking solutions for the future of digital payments at a livestreamed event on TechCrunch
Beirut, Lebanon, July 23, 2024: Visa (NYSE: V), a global leader in payments, announced today that Jordan-based GamerG, a digital-first online gaming tournament platform, was announced the winner of the Central Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (CEMEA) Regional Finals of its Visa Everywhere Initiative. In addition, the platform was chosen as the ‘Audience Favorite’. The regional finale was livestreamed on leading online technology publication, TechCrunch.
GamerG was among five finalists from the region who were selected from 1,400 applicants, for their innovative payment solutions across fraud and risk, identity and biometrics, digital wallets, open banking, embedded finance, and other key subsectors. GamerG will now progress to the Global Finals at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco on October 28, competing for a grand prize of USD100,000.
In the lead-up to this year’s regional finale, Visa held several subregional events across CEMEA, including the first-ever local Levant edition, in collaboration with the Central Bank of Jordan, spanning Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Iraq. This year’s CEMEA winners across competitions shared a total prize pool of USD350,000 to support their work.
Leila Serhan, Senior Vice President and Group Country Manager—North Africa, Levant and Pakistan at Visa, said: “The Visa Everywhere Initiative reflects Visa’s commitment to supporting innovation, and recognizing fintech as a driver of economic growth and financial inclusion. This year’s finalists truly demonstrate the remarkable entrepreneurial spirit in this region. Congratulations to Abdelrahim Hilal and Rashid Haddadin from Jordan-based start-up GamerG for winning and to all our participants. We wish GamerG the best of luck for the Visa Everywhere Initiative Global Finals. In countries in the Levant region where governments and financial institutions are spearheading financial inclusion efforts, initiatives like Visa Everywhere Initiative can improve digitization and market readiness. Our program helps early-stage companies scale groundbreaking solutions by putting them on a global stage, connecting them to Visa’s extensive network, and driving them to take a step forward in their growth journeys.”
Visa also recently conducted research on the Fintech landscape in the Levant region which highlights that 70% of surveyed fintechs target geographical expansion within their growth roadmaps. The study also polled fintechs’ expectations on the emerging technologies that will play a pivotal role in the future – Artificial Intelligence rated the highest at 57%, followed by Biometric Authentication (48%) and Cybersecurity Technologies (48%).
This year’s Visa Everywhere Initiative 2024 finalists included:
- Jordan-based GamerG is a digital-first online gaming tournament platform that organizes daily tournaments for monetary rewards, employing skill-based matchmaking technology to connect gamers and level the playing field. It offers convenient digital payment gateways across wallets, cards, and bank transfers.
- Bahrain-headquartered CnpSecure is a turnkey digital provider that fights Card-Not-Present fraud and chargeback risks.
- Qatar-based fintech start-up Tess Payments offers a wide range of accepted payment methods and secure and convenient payment solutions for merchants.
- South Africa-headquartered Nomanini is a developer of a payment platform designed to connect Africa’s informal and offline retail trade ecosystem to digital financial services.
- Nigeria-based Advantage Health Africa aims to leverage technology to enhance access, affordability, and quality across healthcare in Africa, through integrated pharma solutions.
Launched in 2015, the Visa Everywhere Initiative enables entrepreneurs to unlock opportunities and build credibility by putting them on the global stage and facilitating access to Visa’s vast network of experts and extensive solutions suite. Since its inception, more than 15,000 start-ups from over 100 countries have applied, going on to raise over USD 48 billion in collective funding.
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About Visa
Visa (NYSE: V) is a world leader in digital payments, facilitating transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions, and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, convenient, reliable, and secure payments network, enabling individuals, businesses, and economies to thrive. We believe that economies that include everyone everywhere, uplift everyone everywhere and see access as foundational to the future of money movement. Learn more at About Visa, visamiddleeast.com/blog and @Visamiddleeast.