- The startup uses facial recognition as a payment authentication method for physical retailers;
- The Qatar Fintech Hub (QFTH) program lasts 12 weeks and runs until mid-December this year.
The Brazilian facial recognition fintech Payface is the only company in Latin America selected for an investment program in Qatar, as disclosed by the company to LABS.
The startup uses facial recognition for payments at physical retailers. Payface was selected to participate in the first class of the Qatar Fintech Hub (QFTH) acceleration program, co-founded by the Qatar Development Bank (QDB) and created to support the growth of the fintech industry in the country.
QFTH received more than 750 applications from startups from 72 different countries. The evaluation criteria for each company were related to traction, strength, and originality of the solutions, the team’s capacity, as well as the solution’s potential, and impact on Qatar’s market.
The last 55 finalists presented their solutions through virtual pitch days, judged by a panel composed of QFTH and QDB stakeholders, such as Visa and MasterCard. Payface is among the 13 advanced stage fintechs selected for the program.
As part of QDB’s investment in the program, the selected startups will connect with global partners in the payment ecosystem, receive support to launch in the country, as well as obtain approval from the Central Bank of Qatar to operate and collaborate with 16 local regulators and financial institutions.
Eládio Isoppo, CEO and co-founder of Payface, said in a statement sent to LABS that having the support of an organization like Qatar Development Bank will provide the startup with access to a range of business development opportunities on a global scale.
Being selected for the program marks the beginning of a new phase for Payface and shows the potential that we have to impact ecosystems that are continents away from Brazil
Eládio Isoppo, CEO and co-founder of Payface.
In June this year, according to the magazine Pequenas Empresas, Grandes Negócios, the startup raised a round of BRL 3 million to take its solution to medium and large retailers. So far, there have been more than 100,000 transactions using the startup’s technology.
The program lasts for 12 weeks and runs until mid-December this year, when the representatives of each fintech will present their innovations to the local and international market, aiming at new investments’ rounds.
It is the first edition (Wave-1) of both incubation and acceleration programs. The 11 early-stage startups selected for the incubation program are C-Wallet (Qatar), DaVinci Payments (Australia), Debito (Qatar), Fatora (Qatar), Musaada (Qatar), My Book (Qatar), Pay Ring (Russia), Remit Radar (United Kingdom), SkipCash (Qatar), Tess Payments (Qatar) and 7Sab (Qatar).
The 13 mature startups selected for the acceleration program are Areeba (Qatar), FOMO Pay (Singapore), FOO (Lebanon), Madfooat (Jordan), Maya AI (Singapore), Manim Finance (Turkey), MyCash Money (Singapore), Winning (Singapore), Nuclei (India), Oscar Business Hub (Canada), Payface (Brazil), Sync Money (United Kingdom) and UPayments (Kuwait). These startups cover a variety of areas, such as payment services, mobile payments, SME solutions, KYC (Know Your Customer) solutions, B2B payments, digital wallets, among others.
