Silicon Valley Bank and Mastercard Welcome Class 5 of Commerce.Innovated.

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Oct. 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Silicon Valley Bank and Mastercard have selected six startups to participate in Class 5 of Commerce.Innovated., a virtual accelerator designed to help commerce, payments and fintech startups grow their businesses. The six startups will go through the four-month virtual program that provides resources to help refine and enhance their business ideas through access to operational expertise from Silicon Valley Bank, Mastercard and their respective networks.

The six companies that were selected to participate in the current class come from across the U.S. and are in various stages of funding and development:

• Domuso, a payment financing platform for renters in Multifamily Communities, Santa Monica
• Earny, your personal assistant who automatically gets you money back on every purchase you make, Santa Monica
• Papaya, a mobile bill pay app, Burbank
• SmartGift, a provider of product e-gifting technology for nextgen commerce, New York
• Truebill, an automated financial assistant that tracks, manages, and cancels paid subscriptions and recurring bills, San Francisco
• Qwil, instant pay for independent contractors, San Francisco

Co-founder of Alloy Laura Spiekerman, an alumna from Class 4 of Commerce.Innovated., commented: "Commerce.Innovated. helped us validate our approach to financial institutions and connecting to clients." Since completing the program, Alloy, which provides identity verification APIs for regulated companies, completed a product launch with its first live customers and started fundraising for its second seed round. "We continue to keep in touch with the Commerce.Innovated. team to leverage the connections, resources and expertise we gained through the program."

"With the continued innovation in payments, commerce and fintech, we saw some great companies come through the application process," said Reetika Grewal, head of Silicon Valley Bank's payments strategy and solutions group. "We're excited to work with the next batch of companies that are making life easier for both businesses and consumers.  Commerce.Innovated. is operationally-focused and customized based on the goals of each company so we can jointly work toward helping them meet their next milestones. We're looking forward to collaborating with these incredible entrepreneurs to help them move their businesses forward."

"Our most recent class highlights the innovative solutions and applications that are being developed by early stage startups in areas such as banking, payments, and retail," said Stephane Wyper, global lead of startup engagement at Mastercard. "The pace at which innovation is occurring in fintech and commerce underscores the importance of programs like Commerce.Innovated. as a way to collaborate with these new companies and shape the future of commerce together."

Commerce.Innovated. launched in 2014 and has worked with 19 commerce-focused startups to date, including Alloy, AppZen, Apruve, CardFlight, Dash, Float, Footmarks, Gone, LaunchKey, Local Maven, Nowsta, PayByGroup, PennyOwl, Slide, SnapUp, Spend Labs, Splitwise, Standard Treasury and one stealth-mode startup. Nine of the 19 graduates have raised funding after the program and four have been acquired.

Full program details are available at www.commerceinnovated.com. 

About Silicon Valley BankFor more than 30 years, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) has helped innovative companies and their investors move bold ideas forward, fast. SVB provides targeted financial services and expertise through its offices in innovation centers around the world. With commercial, international and private banking services, SVB helps address the unique needs of innovators. Learn more at svb.com.

Silicon Valley Bank is a member of the FDIC and the Federal Reserve System. Silicon Valley Bank is the California bank subsidiary of SVB Financial Group (Nasdaq: SIVB).

About MastercardMastercard (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.

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SOURCE Silicon Valley Bank