Through the six-month programme, a dedicated Mastercard Sponsor provides a gateway to operational support, technology expertise, commercial engagement with Mastercard’s global ecosystem and opportunity to secure strategic investment.

The programme provides banks and merchants access to a global portfolio of elite fintechs, to enable them to accelerate commercial products and solutions through collaboration. Previse’s spot in the programme comes after a competitive selection process, with approximately 1,500 companies evaluated annually for entry into the program, and only around 40 accepted.

The programme is open to fintechs who are rethinking banking, payments and commerce and have raised a significant seed or Series A round of investment.

Previse’s acceptance onto the programme is part of the company’s rapid growth since inception and will increase access to its offering for a wide portfolio of banks and merchants.

Previse uses smart technology to analyse invoice data from large corporations to tackle the issue of slow invoice payments to SME suppliers, enabling payments to be made as soon as an invoice is received rather than waiting for lengthy payment terms.

Paul Christensen, CEO at Previse, said: “Being selected as part of the Start Path program is a testament to the strength of our offering, which answers the problem of slow invoice payments that hurt SMEs worldwide. Our place in the network will support our continued growth and enable us to develop our offering further in our mission to end slow B2B payments for good. We are proud to be part of the network and look forward to the opportunities it will enable us to pursue as we expand.”