Mastercard x Pier Five Small Business Fund will provide ten
women-owned small businesses $10,000
each in funding
New partnerships with McAfee and Virtual Gurus along
with access to Easy Savings Specials will provide Canadian small
business Mastercard cardholders savings on products and services
designed for their unique needs
TORONTO, Oct. 3, 2023
/CNW/ - Today, as part of its long-standing commitment to helping
every small business thrive through innovation and community,
Mastercard announces the expansion of the Mastercard x Pier Five
Small Business Fund and new benefits for small business
cardholders.
According to recent Mastercard research, women small business
owners report that being a part of a community provides numerous
benefits, including building confidence (41 per cent), creating a
referral network for clients (40 per cent), and giving them
opportunities to share insights with their peers (39 per
cent)1.
Understanding these immense benefits, Mastercard leverages
partners, tools, resources and solutions to foster community for
women entrepreneurs in Canada. The
second year of the Mastercard x Pier Five Small Business Fund,
coupled with new benefits for Mastercard cardholders, represent the
latest ways Mastercard is unlocking possibilities for small
businesses.
Applying for the Mastercard x Pier Five Small Business
Fund
"Small businesses make up 98 per cent of all businesses in
Canada2, but only 17.7
per cent of those are majority owned by women3," said
Nishant Raina, Small Business Lead,
Mastercard Canada. "Mastercard believes when small businesses –
including women-owned small businesses – thrive, we all thrive.
Through our partnership with Pier Five, we are providing women
small businesses owners with access to the opportunities they
deserve."
Now in its second year, the Mastercard x Pier Five Small
Business Fund will provide ten women-owned businesses with
$10,000 CAD in funding each, doubling
the number of recipients from the Fund's initial launch last year.
The recipients can use the capital to help grow and scale their
business.
"As women small business owners, the funding we received from
Mastercard was integral in helping us achieve our 2023 business
goals, including developing new products and growing our online
presence," said Jessica Miao and
Chloe Beaudoin, co-founders of
Apricotton and one of the recipients of the inaugural Mastercard x
Pier Five Small Business Fund. "But the support we received went
beyond just funding. By connecting with a community of our peers,
we've been able to learn from one another and expand our
professional network."
Starting today, until November 5,
2023, Canadian women small business owners can apply for the
Mastercard x Pier Five Small Business Fund at
pier-five.com/smallbusinessfund2023. In addition to the
$10,000 CAD in funding, Mastercard
will bring the Fund recipients together for a Priceless Experience
in Toronto to connect them to
valuable mentorship opportunities with Mastercard executives and
partners – and each other. By connecting small business owners with
their peers and experts, Mastercard is connecting communities to
unlock possibilities for entrepreneurs to share their experiences
and gain insights from experts.
"We're proud to partner with Mastercard for the second year of
the Mastercard x Pier Five Small Business Fund to support
women-owned businesses in Canada,"
said Julian Golden and Jeff Lei, co-founders of Pier Five, a platform
that develops programming, insightful content and unique networking
experiences for creative entrepreneurs. "Pier Five shares
Mastercard's vision to build connections and facilitate
conversations that enable small business growth, and we're excited
to be able to expand the number of deserving women-owned businesses
that will receive these funds."
Helping small businesses meet their needs through new
Mastercard small business cardholder benefits
As ninety-four per cent of small businesses are experiencing
pressure from macroeconomic issues, including inflation, rising
interest rates and supply chain
disruptions,4 Mastercard is bringing
added value to Canadian small business with new cardholder benefits
that help them meet the demands of an evolving business
climate.
"Small business owners are often stretched for resources,
including IT and skilled talent," said Nishant Raina, Small Business Lead, Mastercard
Canada. "We have partnered with leading cybersecurity and virtual
talent providers to help Canadian entrepreneurs increase their
digital safety and onboard talent that allows them to focus on
growth. Through these partnerships and other savings programs, we
are connecting Mastercard small business cardholders with valued
resources and creating crucial cost savings for their
businesses."
Now available across Mastercard BusinessCard® and World Elite
Mastercard for Business®, small business cardholders can access new
benefits to help address key needs and generate significant
savings, including:
- McAfee: Mastercard BusinessCard and World Elite
Mastercard for Business cardholders receive a discounted 13-month
subscription to McAfeeTM Total Protection for Mastercard
10-Devices plan and a complimentary 13-month subscription to
McAfee's TechMate software with paid purchase. These advanced
features will provide small businesses with award-winning antivirus
protection, secure VPN, web protection, content controls, and more.
Visit
www.mcafee.com/consumer/en-ca/landing-page/mastercard/msmc-2.html
for more details.
- Virtual Gurus: World Elite Mastercard for Business
cardholders receive a 20 per cent discount on the first three
months of their subscription to Virtual Gurus, a talent marketplace
that leverages proprietary technology to match organizations with
highly skilled virtual assistants. Visit
https://thevirtualgurus.com/mastercard for more details. Offer not
available to Quebec-based
cardholders.
- Mastercard Easy Savings Specials: Whether small
businesses are looking to level up their content marketing, unleash
business potential or power up their customer relationship
management, Mastercard Easy Savings Specials has an offer to help
them build, run and grow their business. Mastercard Business
Cardholders can visit www.easysavingsspecials.com/en/ to access
localized offers and earn rebates from top global merchants. Small
businesses can unlock offers on a wide range of business essentials
across the categories that matter most, including 20 per cent off
iStock by Getty Images subscriptions for content needs, 15 per cent
off Global Airport Concierge services for business travel, 20 per
cent off the first year of Pipedrive and more.
Hear from Mastercard Partners
McAfee
"With prevalent security threats and bad actors, it is extremely
important to empower small businesses and everyday consumers with
the opportunity to protect their devices," said Pedro Gutierrez, SVP McAfee Global Sales and
Operations. "We are excited to be partnering with Mastercard who
throughout our partnership has continually expressed a commitment
to offer innovative solutions to their customers."
Virtual Gurus
"The partnership between Virtual Gurus and Mastercard is a
natural fit not only for the Virtual Gurus' vision for equity and
diversity but also in alignment with my mission as an Indigenous
female entrepreneur," says Virtual Gurus founder, Bobbie Racette, a Cree-Metis
woman. "Virtual Gurus' mission is to provide work-from-home
opportunities to underserved communities while supporting our
female entrepreneurs across Canada. Fractional support at a reasonable
cost can be hugely impactful for small businesses to scale."
About Mastercard (NYSE: MA)
Mastercard is a global technology company in the payments
industry. Our mission is to connect and power an inclusive, digital
economy that benefits everyone, everywhere by making transactions
safe, simple, smart and accessible. Using secure data and networks,
partnerships and passion, our innovations and solutions help
individuals, financial institutions, governments and businesses
realize their greatest potential. With connections across more than
210 countries and territories, we are building a sustainable world
that unlocks priceless possibilities for all.
www.mastercard.com
__________
1 Mastercard SBO Community Research, September
2023
|
2
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-621-m/11-621-m2023003-eng.htm
|
3
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-621-m/11-621-m2023005-eng.htm
|
4 Mastercard SBO Macroeconomic
Sentiment Pulse, May 2023
|
SOURCE Mastercard