Authority.inc Selected for Mastercard Lighthouse Program

We are thrilled to announce that Authority.inc has been selected for the prestigious Mastercard Lighthouse FINITIV program. This highly competitive partnership initiative - "born in the Nordics and Baltics" and designed to help startups "scale new heights in fintech and beyond" - is dedicated to discovering the next wave of fintech innovation. Being chosen for Mastercard's Lighthouse program is a significant milestone for Authority.inc, reflecting a strong vote of confidence in our mission to bring truth and transparency to the financial industry. As part of this cohort, we will join a select group of startups and early scaleups in collaborating with Mastercard and leading banks to accelerate our growth and impact in the market.
Building the Authority Layer of B2B Procurement Data
Authority.inc is an AI research lab (partnered with Oxford AI researchers) dedicated to creating the most trusted, non-sponsored database for B2B procurement decisions. In other words, we're building the "authority layer of the internet" for business purchases - a reliable foundation of data that companies can depend on when evaluating financial products and service providers. Our platform compiles comprehensive, verified data about financial industry companies, products, and services, enabling unbiased, side-by-side comparisons for procurement teams. By sourcing every company profile from primary sources like official filings and verified public information, Authority.inc ensures that decision-makers have access to accurate, up-to-date, and objective information free from pay-to-play bias.
This approach directly addresses a serious pain point in today's business landscape: too much online business information is "pay-to-play, biased, or simply inaccurate". Authority.inc was founded to change that. We never accept payment for rankings or favorable placements - our data is 100% unsponsored and evidence-based. With methodologies developed in collaboration with Oxford AI researchers and a commitment to academic rigor, we're building an AI-ready infrastructure of structured data that intelligent systems (and human analysts alike) can trust. Backed by world-class investors from Google DeepMind, Stanford, Mastercard, Google, and other top institutions, Authority.inc is well-positioned to redefine how businesses obtain trusted information. Ultimately, our vision is to "build the most truthful and comprehensive company database" in the world - a central source of truth that brings greater integrity to every B2B decision.
Our Mission: Bringing Truth to Business Decisions in the AI Era
At Authority.inc, our mission can be distilled to "bringing truth to business decisions." We live in an age of AI where data not only informs decisions but actively drives them; as such, data integrity is now a critical pillar of our society. We believe that better business outcomes start with better data. Our team is building the future of financial industry data by ensuring that the internet has "up-to-date, non-biased data" on financial businesses, products, and services. By providing verified, transparent data at scale, we empower companies to make decisions based on facts, not marketing spin or outdated information.
This mission is the guiding force behind everything we do. We prioritize truth over revenue, refusing to compromise data integrity for commercial gain. We practice transparency always, openly documenting our methodologies and sources so that users can verify and trust our work. Every insight we publish is evidence-based - if we can't back it with a credible source, we don't publish it. And because we're "built for AI", our data is structured and annotated for machine-readability, ready to fuel the next generation of intelligent decision-making systems. In short, Authority.inc exists to ensure that in an era of algorithms and big data, the quality of information keeps pace with the quantity. We envision a future where any business professional or AI can consult our platform as the unquestioned source of truth when comparing financial solutions - fulfilling our role as the authority layer of the internet for B2B procurement.
Mastercard Lighthouse: Growth Powered by Partnership
The Mastercard Lighthouse program we've joined is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious fintech accelerators in the Nordic and Baltic region. It is often described as "a partnership program for startups and early scaleups dedicated to discovering the next fintech or fintech-enabler unicorn." In practical terms, Lighthouse serves as a collaboration network that fosters symbiotic growth between banks, fintechs and Mastercard. The program runs in a series of workshops and mentorship sessions aimed at turning partnership ideas into reality - connecting young companies like ours with established financial institutions to explore pilot projects, integrations, and other mutual opportunities. Only a small number of startups are hand-picked for each cohort (typically around 15 fintech companies per batch), making the selection process extremely competitive. In fact, Mastercard's Head of Fintech and Impact Tech Engagement noted that it's "a very tough decision to select" the final startups from among all the applicants, underscoring the high caliber of companies in the program.
Being chosen for Lighthouse is not only an honor but also a powerful catalyst for growth. Participants in the program gain exposure to Mastercard's extensive network of banks, investors, and corporate partners, opening doors that would normally take years to access. The program has a strong track record of success: since its launch in 2018, 228 alumni startups have gone through Lighthouse, collectively attracting over €1.2 billion in investments and forming 308+ partnerships along the way. Startups in Lighthouse benefit from mentorship and resources that boost their visibility and credibility - the program generates millions of media impressions to raise participant brand awareness, and provides personal introductions to investors as well as free advisory consultations from industry experts. For many companies, Lighthouse has been a launchpad to major growth, with alumni often raising significant funding during or immediately after the program (over €1 B in total). It's truly a "growth powered by partnership" model: by facilitating direct collaboration with large financial players, Mastercard Lighthouse helps fintech innovators accelerate their go-to-market and amplify their impact.
What Selection Means for Authority.inc
For Authority.inc, being selected as part of the 2025 Mastercard Lighthouse program is a game-changer. This opportunity aligns perfectly with our strategic goals and comes at a pivotal time in our journey. Through Lighthouse, we'll be working with industry leaders including the Baldwin Group, Nexi, and more - exactly the kind of partnerships that can take our data platform to the next level. By collaborating with major banks, payment companies, and Mastercard's own network, we can integrate our trusted data solutions directly into real-world financial workflows, ensuring that our platform delivers value where it matters most: in the hands of decision-makers at banks, fintechs, and enterprises. These partnerships will not only help validate our technology in new environments but also provide invaluable feedback to refine our product.
Moreover, the Lighthouse program's emphasis on mentorship and networking will support our growth and innovation objectives. We plan to take full advantage of the one-on-one coaching, expert advice, and investor connections that Lighthouse offers. Gaining "personal introductions to investors" and pitch coaching through the program will bolster our fundraising efforts as we scale. Access to the 200+ Lighthouse alumni network is another asset - we'll be able to learn from the experiences of other successful fintech startups and even explore potential collaborations within that community. All of these benefits directly feed into our mission-driven strategy: the more robust and far-reaching our network becomes, the closer we get to making Authority.inc the standard-bearer for unbiased financial data across the industry.
Importantly, this partnership with Mastercard and its Lighthouse corporate partners lends tremendous credibility to our cause. Trust is at the core of Authority.inc's value proposition, and having the endorsement of a global financial leader like Mastercard reinforces that trust. It sends a strong signal to our current and future clients that our approach to data integrity and transparency is not only novel but also validated by industry insiders. We anticipate that this increased credibility and exposure will accelerate our ability to form strategic alliances (for example, with financial institutions that need better data for their procurement decisions) and to reach new markets. One of our key strategic goals is to expand globally while maintaining the highest standards of data accuracy - exactly the kind of sustainable scaling that Mastercard Lighthouse is designed to facilitate through its partnership model.
Looking Ahead: Toward a More Transparent Future
As we embark on this Mastercard Lighthouse journey, the entire Authority.inc team is energized by the road ahead. This selection isn't just an accolade - it's a springboard. In the coming months, we will be working hand-in-hand with mentors and partners to drive pilot projects that demonstrate how unbiased, verified data can transform decision-making in finance. Our participation in Lighthouse serves as a powerful validation of our vision and gives us a platform to champion the importance of data transparency on a larger stage. By the end of the program, we aim to have forged concrete partnerships and use-cases that showcase the value of an "up-to-date, non-biased" financial data infrastructure, whether that's helping a bank evaluate fintech vendors more effectively or enabling an AI system to provide more reliable financial product recommendations.
We are deeply grateful to Mastercard and the Lighthouse team for selecting Authority.inc and for believing in our mission. Together with our fellow cohort members, we are eager to learn, collaborate, and innovate. This is more than just a growth program for us - it's an opportunity to accelerate our impact towards a more transparent and trustworthy financial ecosystem. Authority.inc's journey to build the authority layer of the internet enters an exciting new chapter today, powered by partnership and focused on bringing truth to every business decision. We'll be sure to keep our community updated on our progress in the Lighthouse program, and we look forward to sharing the successes and lessons that emerge from this experience. Onward and upward - towards a future where trusted data drives every decision.
Contact
Visit https://www.authority.inc/

Authority Inc
169 Madison Avenue New York, NY
(949) 393-4244
Press@Authority.inc

Authority.inc is an AI research lab focused on building reliable, non-sponsored financial industry data.
The platform provides verified comparisons and rankings of financial services providers.
All data is structured, cross-referenced, and reviewed through a continuous validation process.
Authority.inc is built for professionals who value accuracy, transparency, and data integrity.

This release was published on openPR.