Deadline: 6 September 2016
Are you an Indian? Are you an entrepreneur and have venture with technology solutions to increase access and affordability of financial services for consumers and small businesses in India? Are you interested in raising capital and need business training? Then apply for Village Capital Fintech India 2016 for business training program.
Village Capital, sponsored by PayPal and BlackRock, as well as local partner DBS Foundation, is hosting a 3-month business training program for early-stage fintech ventures from across India. The program will support selected entrepreneurs through an award-winning program curriculum, 1:1 mentorship from sector leaders, and tailored engagement with potential strategic partners and investors. The program is 12 days of in-person work, taking place across three workshops spanning the course of three months.
Challenges
- Distribution of services to underserved demographics and areas;
- Effective credit mechanisms and financial protection for SMBs and the agricultural sector;
- Streamlined processes for government and private sector payments;
- Social security and wealth creation mechanisms for low-wealth communities.
Funding Information
At the end of the program, the top two ventures, as selected by their peers in the cohort, will receive an offer of US $50,000 in pre-committed capital investment from VilCap Investments.
Eligible Enterprises
Village Capital is seeking ventures with technology solutions to increase access and affordability of financial services for consumers and small businesses in India. Specific types of companies include, but are not limited to, those that:
- Offer innovative, appropriate lending products, both SME & consumer, especially for essential services like health, education & housing (e.g.: peer-to-peer lending models, innovative SME financing, emergency loans etc.);
- Increase efficiency of distribution for provision of financial services across India, such as credit, payments, remittances etc. (“banking tech”, such as mobile wallets, money transfer tools, payments for micro-merchants);
- Provide solutions for wealth creation & protection models for households and small businesses (e.g. savings, investment platforms, insurance tech, micro-insurance);
- Leverage technology and data analytics for better credit scoring and customer segmentation for consumer and business lending;
- Improve financial literacy and enable greater formalization and transparency of financial transactions;
- Streamline the process for accessing government schemes in financial services and beyond. (e.g.: Aadhaar-based payments & remittances).
Furthermore, eligible enterprises must:
- Have at least one full-time employee in India
- Have meaningful customer or business validation (not limited to revenue, can also be successful pilot studies, number of users, and/or strategic partnerships)
- Be interested in raising capital in the next 12 -18 months
How to Apply
Interested applicants can apply via given website.
Eligible Country: India
For more information, please visit Village Capital Fintech India 2016.