NATIONWIDE – Visa’s Creator program – a one-year immersion program geared towards “entrepreneurs working in art, music, fashion and film looking to accelerate their small business through NFTs” is accepting applications through May 11. Selected participants will join a community of NFT creators, receive mentorship with Visa’s team of crypto product and strategy leaders, and a one-time stipend to help kick-start the next phase of growth.

“One of the most fascinating things to me is…that small businesses in the brick-and-mortar world bring communities together,” said Visa Head of Crytpo Cuy Sheffield.  “You’re not just there to buy a good or a service, you’re there to see other people, to meet, to hang out. That’s really hard to recreate in an online environment.”

Sheffield feels with NFTs, you can really “create this element of people coming together.”

NFTs or Non-fungible Tokens are a non-interchangeable unit of data stored on a blockchain, a form of digital ledger, that can be sold and traded. Much of the current market for NFTs is centered around collectibles, such as digital artwork, sports cards, and rarities.

Former baseball player Micah Johnson, the NFT artist behind Aku, is the program’s first creator. 

Sheffield said Visa is going to spend a lot of time picking the other participants, ensuring they have “really interesting, talented people from across the world” before bringing them together to learn from each other and Johnson. Participants will also learn from Visa’s network and the merchants and brands that it works with.

To qualify for the program, applicants must be over 18 and over. To apply for the the Visa Creator program visit https://globalclient.visa.com/creator