Grants available for AI solutions for small businesses

Today, Mastercard launched its latest Strive Innovation Fund. The fourth of its kind, this round offers up to €500,000 to up to 20 winners developing digital and data-first solutions that promote the growth of small businesses in Europe.

Mastercard Strive EU’s four innovation fund themes

The Fund seeks solutions that support small businesses to:

1. Unlock working capital and credit through embedded finance.
2. Go digital safely by bolstering cybersecurity.
3. Navigate evolving consumer preferences and regulatory expectations around environmental sustainability.
4. Harness artificial intelligence (AI) to save time and make money, which will be explored in this blog.

AI is both an opportunity and a threat to small businesses.

From improved customer engagement and automated marketing to fraud detection, predictive inventory management, and data-driven decision-making, AI can enable small businesses to reduce their administrative burden and optimize their operational efficiency. AI can also increase small businesses’ access to finance by enhancing credit scoring and leveraging alternative data sources — particularly valuable for embedded finance solutions. AI can also accelerate small businesses’ green transition through improved resource and energy management, as well as through reporting and compliance solutions. AI can even increase the diversity of businesses’ workforce, products, or services.

However, for small businesses, AI also brings various threats and challenges, including job losses and disruptions to existing competitive advantages, not to mention the increased risk of cyberattacks.

Small businesses often struggle to adopt new technologies, like AI, as they lack the capacity and digital know-how to do so. In the EU, only 21% of small businesses use two or more AI technologies, compared to 39% of large enterprises, pointing to a growing digital divide that could hamper small businesses’ competitive edge.

AI for business growth

To realize the full potential of AI, European small businesses must be supported in their digital adoption journey to realize new competitive advantages and more effectively optimize their operations.

The Strive EU Innovation Fund is therefore seeking out digital solutions that equip small businesses with responsible and trustworthy AI strategies and solutions that nurture their competitiveness, resilience, and potential for growth. These solutions could assist small businesses to:

• Boost revenues by analyzing sales data, customer behavior, and market trends to dynamically optimize pricing.
• Boost competitiveness by analyzing customer interactions, sales figures, market trends, customer feedback, product engagement, and product performance to provide actionable insights.
• Get better access to financial services, for instance through enhanced approaches, data processes, or credit scoring.
• Offer their customers personalized experiences via AI-powered multilingual chatbots and virtual assistants that can provide 24/7 customer support.
• Optimize scheduling, for instance through AI-powered virtual assistants to schedule appointments, manage calendars, and send reminders.
• Better detect fraud, by analyzing transaction patterns, identifying suspicious activity, and preventing fraudulent transactions.
• Save time and money spent on marketing through automated email campaigns, social media promotions, targeted advertising, and copy generation.
• Optimize predictive maintenance and inventory management; AI models can analyze sensor data from machinery or inventory levels to predict potential breakdowns or stockouts.
• Save money and meet customer and regulator sustainability demands by optimizing energy consumption and minimizing waste production.
• Ensure regulatory compliance by assessing regulatory documents, identifying relevant requirements, and providing summaries of compliance obligations, including but not limited to new environmental regulations.
• Enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies, for example, by providing sign language on products for customers with disabilities or recruiting more candidates from diverse ethnic backgrounds.
• Navigate new and changing regulations around AI to guarantee a responsible and ethical digital transformation.
• Many more solutions — we welcome your ideas!

If you are working on a solution that enables small businesses to realize these AI benefits, or mitigate its risks, then we’re on the lookout for you!

Please see our website to find more information and apply. Applications close on March 11, 2024.