Flagship Financial Inclusion Lab Program
Several FinTech trends emerging over the past few years include Financialization of Assets, Embedded and Value Chain focused solutions, Personalized offerings, Sachetization, and Decentralization. While these have enabled rapid growth in adoption, FinTech needs to be more inclusive if it is to serve the next wave of underserved users who will primarily be from Lower and Middle-Income households.
If your startup is passionate about riding this next wave of growth to create impactful solutions then we invite you to be part of Financial Inclusion Lab’s sixth cohort.
We are especially looking out for Startups that have achieved at least some validation through early users, paying customers, or key partnerships.
We will select up to 10 startups for our 20-week long acceleration program.
The programme is designed to largely provide bespoke support to each startup based on its needs. CIIE.CO, in consultation with the startup, will set specific milestones for each startup. The start ups will then work towards achieving these milestones with our support in partnership with MSC Consulting. Training, mentoring, technical assistance and market access will be provided as needed and feasible. An Investor Demo Day will be organized towards the end of the active engagement period. We continue to provide Portfolio support up to 6 months after Demo Day
Financial Inclusion Lab
A part of CIIE.CO’s Bharat Inclusion Initiative, the Financial Inclusion Lab aims to improve the financial health of India’s underserved Lower and Middle Income segments by supporting startups in the areas of Fintech, Skilling, and Livelihood. CIIE.CO is collaborating with MSC (MicroSave Consulting), an international digital financial inclusion consultancy firm, to provide the startups with high-touch advisory and insights into the LMI segments. We have supported 42 early-stage startups in five cohorts so far. Cumulatively, these startups have served 30mn+ individuals and raised over $80mn in funding post their participation in the Lab.
What we offer
Customized support to each selected startup, including
- Capital of up to INR 25 lakhs for Product Development and Market Validation
- Field studies led by financial inclusion experts for customer and market insights
- Curated sessions by IIM Ahmedabad faculty, entrepreneurs and LMI experts
- Mentoring by LMI-focused practitioners, entrepreneurs and domain experts
- Access to CIIE.CO’s exclusive Founder Network of 300+ startup founders
- Extensive visibility through our platforms and networks
- Portfolio support to help connect with customers, partners and investors
- Investment readiness advisory and preparation
- Cloud credits, legal, marketing and other services worth additional $300,000
- Need based additional financial and technical assistance for high potential ideas
Startups we seek
We invite innovations that aim to make mainstream financial products inclusive for lower-income customers, including women, offering either of the below:
- Customization of solutions: Embedding these financial solutions in specific industries such as dairy, agri, construction, skilling, gig and others with the goal of enhancing the livelihood opportunities and financial health of lower-income participants in these industries
- Financialization of savings: Facilitating savings in financial assets for lower-in-come customers by offering them innovative ways to protect against uncertainties and exigencies (enabling them to build and safeguard their assets)
- Magnification of distribution: Enabling scale through innovative product build and partnerships to reach low-income customers residing in smaller cities and rural areas
- Fintechs could be making use of new technologies such as big data, NLP, AI/ML etc or using the newer elements of IndiaStack such as OCEN, ONDC, and Ayushman Bharat. We are also keen on solutions that are contextualized for women customers.
