Chinese Augmented Reality Startup Joins Mastercard's Start Path Global Program

SHANGHAI, Sept. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Mastercard today announced that augmented reality (AR) startup IMG is the first company from China to join its Start Path Global program -- the company's global effort to support innovative early-stage startups developing the next generation of commerce and fintech solutions.

Start Path was established in early 2014 as a way for Mastercard to work directly with global startups building innovative solutions covering everything from blockchain to artificial intelligence and chatbots. Over the last two years, Start Path has worked with over 90 companies across 24 countries. Mastercard is currently running active pilots with or has directly invested in nearly 20 percent of the companies. The early-stage companies that comprise this new class hail from all corners of the globe and are varied in terms of their team size, level of funding, revenue, and sales pipeline.

"When the opportunity arose to be part of the Start Path program and collaborate with Mastercard we grabbed it with both hands," said Zhu Yu Cong, CEO of IMG. "As a growing startup, Start Path presents us with an unparalleled opportunity to scale our business and realize the full potential of our innovations. As part of the program, we are also eager to start working with Mastercard and their partners to bring new technologies to market that will help mature the augmented reality industry and its various use cases."

Dennis Chang, Division President, China, Mastercard said, "It's very exciting to see such an innovative technology startup such as IMG taking part in the Start Path Global program. IMG represents a generation of dynamic entrepreneurs in the fintech space, which is growing at a tremendous rate in China and stands to make a substantial impact on China's innovation-driven economy."

Launched in 2014, Start Path has worked with more than 90 startups, helping them scale their operations and enter new markets and industries.

"The companies selected for this class are unbundling traditional commerce and financial services and reconstructing products that offer better consumer experiences," said Stephane Wyper, global lead for Mastercard Start Path. "They are altering the world of commerce by using powers of mobile, big data, and analytics, moving to mainstream at a very fast pace."

Start Path Global is a six-month, virtual program which provides a variety of benefits for selected startups, ranging from operational and commercial support, to investment. The program takes into account that every startup is unique and faces very specific challenges, and builds a customized plan for each startup entering the program. The program then uses different mechanisms to work with the startups including pilots with Mastercard business lines, access to Mastercard's APIs, and connectivity to its customer base and partner networks.

For example, ClubApp, an Irish startup that provides sports clubs with a platform to share live updates from matches while generating match statistics, has integrated Qkr! with Masterpass technology to enable its members to pay clubs fees and buy club merchandise via the app. Rainbird is currently working to build an artificial intelligence-driven virtual assistant to augment knowledge-sharing and decision-making across the Mastercard UK loyalty sales team. And Razorpay, an online payment gateway in India has received investment from Mastercard through the Start Path program.

In the next six months, IMG will join other startups to attend a series of face-to-face advisory meetings and work on a growth plan designed specifically for them. It will also attend the Start Path Global Partner summit in New York in November where Start Path will make introductions to large corporate partners.

The summer 2016 Start Path Global class includes:

• IMG -- This startup provides services based on (AR) technology for e-commerce customers in the apparel industry, enabling customers to virtually try on products before they buy. It holds patents for a range of innovations, including facial, spatial, image, movement, and gesture recognition, as well as machine learning and artificial intelligence.    
• Cyberfend -- This startup provides a security solution that protects web and mobile applications from sophisticated attacks and fraudulent activity. Cyberfend's solution detects account take-over, payment fraud and stolen credentials.
• Everledger -- This startup uses blockchain technology to track and protect diamonds and other luxury goods on their lifetime journey. It uses the distributed, ledger system to reduce fraud-related instances of valuables, providing verification of an item's authenticity and ownership to insurance companies, financiers, owners and law enforcement.
• Itembase -- Itembase helps consumers create an itemized, running list of their purchases history from 100,000s of retailers and brands and trigger actions in any 3rd Party Consumer Apps like selling on eBay, track and claim warranty, add products to insurance, get a credit, store invoice, collect cashback or any other actions that can be triggered by a purchase throughout the item lifecycle.
• Mozio -- Mozio is an airport transfer search and booking engine that enables users to find the fastest means of getting to and from the airport. Its airport transportation search engine aggregates ground transportation data and allows travelers to plan their trips to and from an airport by taking into account bus, train, ferry and subway schedules.
• PayKey -- This startup enables payments within any social network. With PayKey, customers enjoy the security of the trusted banks within their favorite applications, making everyday payments and banking easier and more efficient than ever before.
• RecargaPay -- RecargaPay is Brazil's leading mobile payments platform for everyday purchases. It allows consumers in Latin America to top up their prepaid mobile phones and pay for their utility bills as well as those of their friends and family. It is now expanding into financial services for the unbanked.
• Revolut -- This startup has developed a global money app connected to a multi-currency Mastercard that allows users to seamlessly exchange, send and spend money in-store or online. With the app and card, it's like having a local bank account anywhere in the world. They no longer pay foreign fees and can easily manage their account, including security features via the app.

About Mastercard Start Path
Mastercard Start Path is a global effort to support innovative startups developing the next generation of commerce solutions today. Start Path was launched in 2014 with an objective to help startups to grow their businesses faster than they could by themselves. Startups that join the program can benefit from the knowledge of a global network of Mastercard experts, access to Mastercard customers and partners, and the ability to innovate on top of Mastercard solutions. Mastercard customers that join the program as partners get connected to the best and brightest startups and gain access to innovations from across the globe. For more information visit www.startpath.com or follow Mastercard Start Path on Twitter at @MAstartpath.

About Mastercard

Mastercard (NYSE: MA), www.Mastercard.com, is a technology company in the global payments industry.  We operate the world's fastest payments processing network, connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories. Mastercard products and solutions make everyday commerce activities -- such as shopping, traveling, running a business and managing finances -- easier, more secure and more efficient for everyone. Follow us on Twitter @MastercardNews, join the discussion on the Beyond the Transaction Blog and subscribe for the latest news on the Engagement Bureau.