Ten fintech startups begin their incubation journey at NSRCEL

Chandigarh: NSRCEL, the startup hub at IIM Bangalore, has selected 10 early-stage fintech startups for its final stage of the Fintech startup program, which will see these firms undergo a 9-month incubation program and subsequently be eligible for a grant from ICICI Securities (I-Sec).

The program is part of ICICI Securities’ CSR initiative under which it has committed to help fintechs with winning ideas to come to the market. I-Sec believes fintechs have immense potential in jobs creation and economic growth, something which is a need of the hour for India, which has a large population entering the workforce every year.

“It is very exciting to see the fintech startups get ready for the incubation journey at NSRCEL. The quality of the founders and the solutions they offer are really top class and real world, and I am very confident that they will have many takers. I wish all the best to the teams and look forward to engaging with them during their journey,” said Mr. Vijay Chandok, MD & CEO, ICICI Securities.

“As the first domain specific program at NSRCEL, we have high expectations for this final cohort.  We will do whatever it takes to get them to the next level of growth in their entrepreneurial journey,” said Prof. Venkatesh Panchapagesan, Chairperson, NSRCEL at IIM Bangalore.

The I-Sec-IIMB Fintech startup program was launched earlier this year and received over 240 applications from all over the country. Twenty-five firms were shortlisted for a pre-incubation program, and from there 10 would now undergo an intensive nine-month incubation journey with a funding from the CSR fund of ICICI Securities.

The ventures selected in this cohort are early-stage startups working in areas like trading, lending, payments, wealth advisory, insurance tech, accounting and financial management, billing software and auxiliary sector-logistics. During their incubation journey they will be engaged in domain-specific support through mentors, industry experts and investors in the Fintech space. NSRCEL will facilitate networking & peer-learning sessions to explore synergies within and beyond the NSRCEL Startup Ecosystem.