Startups from around the world are developing niche technologies that are making life simpler and more convenient, but they struggle to find the right partners that can take their solutions farther.

To help them make a bigger impact, Mastercard today welcomed 11 new startups to the eighth wave of the Mastercard Start Path program. Mastercard Start Path is the company’s global initiative to provide startups with the operational support and commercial access needed to scale.

The startups span eight countries and are developing a variety of tools to help businesses manage their daily tasks, sell to customers overseas, and better engage consumers in an increasingly digital world.

“Startups need the right digital tools to thrive, whether they’re just getting started or keeping up with customer demands,” said Amy Neale, vice president, Mastercard Start Path. “Start Path is a proven way to raise their visibility and bring them the experience and knowhow they need to launch pilots and scale.”

The full list of new Start Path companies includes:

• DefinedCrowd improves voice assistants and customer support systems by analyzing how people speak and interact

• Hanzo empowers merchants to interact with consumers through their smartphones

• Identitii enables secure and trusted information exchange between banks and their customers

• Iguama expands U.S. online retailers to the LAC market

• James (by CrowdProcess) allows risk officers to build, test and validate credit scoring models using artificial intelligence

• Lidya streamlines the small business lending process

• MarketUP creates online marketplaces and management tools for small business owners

• OpenSparkz allows consumers to redeem loyalty offers from their existing payment cards

• SnapSwap delivers a fully automated digital customer onboarding solution for financial services

• Vouchr – transforms payments into a personal, social and gamified experience

• The Wallet App – lets consumers save all loyalty, bank and transit cards in a single digital wallet on their smartphones

How to Participate

Applications for the next six-month virtual program will be accepted on a rolling basis. The program is open to startups who are rethinking banking, payments and commerce and have raised a significant seed or Series A round of investment. Interested startups can visit https://www.startpath.com/ for additional information and to submit an application.