NSRCEL-IIM B organises first-of-its kind Fintech Festival to celebrate success of incubation program with ICICI Securities

New Delhi, Aug 4, 2021: NSRCEL―the incubation arm of Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIMB) today organised its first-of-its-kind Fintech Festival to celebrate the success of its fintech startup incubation program in partnership with ICICI Securities, India’s leading financial services firm. The successful day-long event was a testament to the eventful 12-month long journey of NSRCEL's startup incubation program. The event witnessed deliberations and discussions on the fintech industry for incubated startups and Fintech enthusiasts alike.

Last year, ICICI Securities joined hands with NSRCEL, by contributing its CSR funds to support promising startups in the fintech space through a structured program. Over 240 fintechs from all over the country applied for the programme. For a pre-incubation program, 25 firms were shortlisted, of which 10 underwent an intensive nine-month incubation journey. Today’s programme formally concluded the programme.

The success of the programme could be judged from the fact that during the last nine months even as they were undergoing the incubation programme, the 10 select fintech startups have cumulatively raised Rs 25 crore as VC/angel funding.

"These endeavours are crucial at this juncture to leverage benefits from the myriad opportunities available to make Fintech founders future-ready and generate more employment opportunities. By focusing on a particular area with support from highly qualified faculty, talented learners, and industry luminaries, we can create a much stronger impact in the thriving fintech industry especially in the era of rapid digitalisation," said Prof. Venkatesh Panchapagesan, Chairperson NSRCEL at IIMB.

The event began with a welcome note address by Prof. Venkatesh Panchapagesan and saw robust discussions and debates on key topics including the opportunities and challenges in fintech, venture capital for fintech venture with global perspective, market expansion opportunities from Indian context, global fintech and aspirations on scaling up, and post incubation relationship between NSRCEL and ventures.

"Our partnership with NSRCEL and IIM-Bangalore is a small but meaningful contribution towards supporting young entrepreneurs. We believe that our great Country can only achieve its full potential through such sustainable entrepreneurial ventures which can serve as a vehicle for channelizing the demographic dividend by creating jobs for serving the needs of the end consumers. We are confident that such partnerships will open the doors to immense opportunities and lead to a virtuous job creation and economic growth cycle. India has bolstered its position in the field of technical innovation globally and with a dynamic and young population, it can turn many innovative ideas into realities. We are proud of our partnership with NSRCEL, and we are hopeful of giving wings to the aspirations of many more young entrepreneurs through collaborative efforts," said Mr. Vijay Chandok, MD & CEO, ICICI Securities.

Industry experts and dignitaries who participated in the discussions include Mr. Akhil Handa (Chief Digital Officer, Bank of Baroda), Mr. Vijay Chandok (Managing Director & CEO, ICICI Securities), Mr. Ashish Kumar Chauhan (MD & CEO of Bombay Stock Exchange), Mr. Hero Choudhary (Managing Partner, Beenext), Mr. Shwetank Verma (Co-founder, LEO Capital), Mr. Abhishant Pant (Founder FinTech Meetup & Angel Investor), Mr. Varun Mittal (Fintech Lead ASEAN EY), Sayali Karanjkar (PaySense), and Anand Sri Ganesh (COO, NSRCEL, IIM Bangalore).

The ten fintechs which underwent the incubation journey are:

1-ALGOFOX (https://www.algofox.in/)

Algofox is a financial firm offering end to end solutions to create and manage wealth in stock market. The following services are provided by Algofox:

1. Stock market courses (NCFM/NISM Certifications) 2. Algo trading solutions and marketplace

3. Health insurance, mutual funds, life insurance guidance 4. Live trading desk

2-IDOS (http://www.myidos.com/)

IDOS is an accounting & financial management software that enables you to easily manage accounting, taxation and financial processes. It also empowers you with data and curated reports for decision making and analytics.

3-CREDOCHAIN (https://credochain.com/)

A digital lending platform for banks and NBFCs, Credochain, helps them originate, credit assess, process, and monitor MSME loans through an integrated platform.

4-HYLO CHALLENGER PRIVATE LIMITED (https://hylo.biz/)

HYLOBIZ is SME distribution value chain focussed Neobank, digitising the Receivables | Payables | Credit Access through Seamless integrations with SMEs ERP/accounting tools and the partner banks over the Open banking APIs ecosystem.

5- JARVIS INVEST (www.jarvisinvest.com)

JARVIS is a revolutionary strategy. It ensures that the investment decision making process is devoid of human emotions through juxtaposition of the power of Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning with Quantitative and Fundamental analysis of equity stocks. This enables the investment management process to systematically uncover and exploit sources of Alpha.

6- GIMBOOKS (https://www.gimbooks.com/)

GimBooks offers an easy to use, Mobile first and cloud based Bookkeeping platform, geared mainly towards small and micro-sized businesses in India. It uniquely offers domain- based bookkeeping, in which the interface and features of the App are customised as per the industry the user is coming from.

7- WEALTHEASY.AI (www.wealtheasy.ai, www.patterneffects.com)

Wealtheasy.ai helps busy individuals, who want to generate regular income from the stock market with a small capital base. Wealtheasy.ai uses a patented framework powered by machine learning and tested over 10 years of data to uncover hidden investment opportunities, manage risk and automate execution with minimal screen time for users.

8- PAYMATRIX (https://paymatrix.in/)

Paymatrix enables individuals to borrow on their existing credit card for unplanned expenses or during cash crunches and pay vendors even if they do not have a Point of Sale terminal.

9- ZIMYO (https://zimyo.com/)

ZimyoTM is a unique cloud-based HR and benefits solution for SMBs to attract and manage talent by offering employee benefits that even their bigger counterparts cannot offer; i.e. — payday loans, Insurance, Investments, etc.

10- PHI COMMERCE PVT LTD (http://www.payphi.com/)

A tech-first payments company empowering businesses to provide seamless payment experiences across omni-channels. PayPhi is addressing payments collection, processing & distribution requirements across online, in-store & on-the-go channels. This versatile platform used by Networks, Banks, Processors and Large Businesses

About ICICI Securities

ICICI Securities Limited (I-Sec) is a subsidiary of ICICI Bank Ltd. The company began its operation in May 1995 and continues to grow its operation through expanding its client base and providing different type of services.

I-Sec operates www.icicidirect.com, a virtual financial supermarket, meeting the three need sets of its clients- investments, protection, and borrowing. Through its four lines of businesses -- broking, distribution of financial products, wealth management, and investment banking-- I-Sec serves customers ranging from the retail and institutional investors to corporates to high net-worth individuals to government.

I-Sec is listed on National Stock Exchange (NSE) and the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). For details, visit: www.icicisecurities.com

About NSRCEL

With programs specifically catering to entrepreneurs with profit ventures and social ventures, also student and women entrepreneurs, NSRCEL offers its support to various players of the startup ecosystem.

NSRCEL brings together startups, industry mentors, eminent academicians from its parent institution Indian Institute of Management Bangalore and researchers who thrive on continuous interaction of theory and practice.

NSRCEL is also the first incubator with a program for tailored for social entrepreneurs and their unique challenges. For more info visit- www.nsrcel.org