Ratul Puri, Chairman, Hindustan Power Projects Pvt. Ltd, kick-started the session titled The Disruptors: Technology and Opportunity on a promising note, when he spoke of twelve technologies which have been identified which are likely to add between USD 0.5-1 trillion to the Indian economy. IT was a fitting introduction to a session of young disruptors, who are paving the way for new developments in the space of technology to create opportunities.

Rohan Murty took over as he analysed the promises and challenges of artificial intelligence. He opened his presentation with an image of 18 women on the screen, who were professional computers. The word computer was a job title well before it was a machine, he said. He spoke of a telescope run by AI, which makes discoveries of the night sky, of haikus and artwork created by machines and revealed that through AI, a task completed by 1,000 people, could within 12 months, be completed by just nine.

However, he also spoke of the shortcomings of AI as it stands now-it cannot identify basic images, it does not have fundamental human traits, there are trust issues and he reminded the audience of a twitter account created by Microsoft, run by AI, which tweeted racist and bigoted tweets and eventually had to be taken down.

Ananya Birla introduced the importance of human-tech synergy, when she said that consumer behaviour was the biggest challenge when moving towards a cashless economy. Her micro-finance company Svatantra Microfinance functions on a completely cashless process and creates a link between the user’s adhar payment scheme and their bank account. The primary challenge to a cashless economy is consumer behaviour. People are so used to cash that they have trust issues and there are literacy problems, she said.

From demonetisation, the conversation moved to autonomous vehicles. While saying that the idea of autonomous cars is ‘cool’, Manasi Kirloskar dismissed any prospect of such cars in India in the foreseeable future. ‘70 per cent of electricity in India is generated from coal fire, which leaves harmful emissions. Electric cars are not eco-friendly‘, she said. She also expressed concern over issues of interrupted broadband systems, virus attacks and hacking, all of which could pose a serious threat to the efficient functioning of autonomous cars. She also brought up ethical concerns-‘In case of an accidents, who does the car protect? The passengers or the pedestrians?‘ she said.

While humans are better off behind the steering wheel for now, truly riving the retail sector is e-commerce, said Shashwat Goenka. ‘Ecommerce is the inevitable future, since we are impatient as consumers. But, we are Indians and our purchase psychology is tuned into touch and feel,’ he said. ‘Brick and mortar will continue to exist,’ he added. Goenka also spoke about the need for re-skilling employees in a tech enabled environment and how it’s the need of the hour. The women ended the session on an astute note. ‘We need technology that will facilitate the efficient access to food, water, shelter, education and healthcare,’ said Kirloskar. ‘The vision is to reach a platform where technology and human beings optimize each other’, Birla concluded.

Big Ideas

Artificial Intelligence

While artificial intelligence can take over a lot of conventionally human activities such as exploring their place in the universe, making art and improving efficiency [a task completed by 1,000 people, could within 12 months, be completed by just nine], it still lacks basic human traits and the lack of trust towards AI poses a great challenge.

Self-driven cars

It is necessary to create a system and set policies for self-driven cars. Presently, they are neither eco-friendly, nor does India have the physical or ethical infrastructure in place to make them a reality.

Going cashless

Consumer behaviour needs to be addressed in order for the country to go completely cashless. Trust, literacy and the need to touch and feel a transaction are impediments. Svatantra Microfinance creates a cashless process where Aadhar payment schemes are linked with the user’s bank accounts. They use the biometric system and eventually work towards reducing KYCs etc.

About India Today Conclave

Started as part of India Today’s 25th anniversary, India Today Conclave was designed as a meeting point for the best minds from India and around the world to map the geopolitical and economic future of the country. In its inaugural year the theme was India Tomorrow 2002: Opportunities and Threats with Vice President of the USA Al Gore as the chief Guest. The speakers who have been part of this conference each year are current and former heads of state, Nobel Laureates, spiritual leaders, industry captains, social workers, economists, authors, academics, scientist, strategists, activists, cine directors, actors and sportspersons. The past conferences can be accessed here

Aeries Financial Technologies Pvt. Ltd, a fin-tech company promoted by serial entrepreneur and private equity investor V. Raman Kumar, announced that CASHe, India’s fastest loan giving app for young salaried professionals, has entered a strategic partnership with Rubique, India’s leading online marketplace for financial products.

In this collaboration, Rubique will enlist CASHe on its online platform for borrowers to avail viable short-term loan products from CASHe. CASHe disburses multiple loan products ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 1,00,000 payable over 15, 30 & 90 days. CASHe now disburses loans well over 1 Crore per day in less than a year of operations. With an average loan processing crossing 500 loan applications per day, CASHe is now India’s leading and most preferred fintech company in the personal lending space.

V. Raman Kumar, Chairman, Aeries Financial Technologies said

We are thrilled to partner with Rubique, India’s leading fintech company in marketplace lending. Rubique’s online platform with its unique matchmaking algorithm is an industry first, and with CASHe now being enlisted on its platform, the prospective borrowers will now have access to CASHe’s short-term loan products available through its app. The application will be directly integrated to Rubique’s platform for the users to download and avail a loan within minutes on their smartphone. Rubique’s large customer base will now have access to quick and easy credit without any collateral, physical documentation or verification. This indeed will be an exciting proposition for young salaried professionals. With our strategic partnership with Rubique, we hope to increase our customer base exponentially.

Manavjeet Singh, Founder & CEO of Rubique said

Partnering with a fintech product like CASHe complements our business model and vision to provide easy & quick access finance to the borrowers through advanced technology. We believe that for every borrower there is lender in the market. But there is no common place where both can discover each other. By creating this common platform for discovery through advanced technology, it’s our endeavour to reduce the processing time significantly. We would like to integrate with lenders with various risk appetite to ensure each of our customer find the right fit of products on our platform.

Products offered by CASHe’s unique mobile-enabled short-term loan offering is an apt solution towards growing consumer segment which demands quick loan disbursals. In terms of growth rate, both of us have witnessed impressive growth & there is absolute alignment on technology focus in the process implemented. With CASHe’s integration, we are now able to offer a wider range of personal loan products to our customers which can disbursed quickly. We are very excited to work with CASHe as we see a huge demand for a loan product offering like this which is hassle-free and convenient.

CASHe provides hassle-free loans with its app enabled documentation and loan disbursal/repayment process. Powered by its industry-first algorithm driven credit scoring platform, The Social Loan Quotient [SLQ], CASHe quickly determines a user’s credit worthiness by using multiple unique data points to arrive at a distinct credit profile of the customer.

SLQ is transforming the traditional credit rating measurements thereby providing immediate loans to the under-served young professionals who are kept out by traditional credit rating and banking systems. CASHe is completely automated and requires no personal intervention and no physical documentation. The average time taken for a loan to be disbursed is about 8 minutes, subject to proper submission of all documents.

About CASHe

CASHe, a fin-tech product of TSLC PTE. LTD., promoted by Aeries Financial Technologies is as unique as the young professionals it serves. In a smart digital world, CASHe offers millennials quick and easy personal loans through processes that are transparent, innovative and tuned to the times. CASHe utilises sophisticated algorithms and machine learning capabilities to deliver an amazing and improved lending experience to our customers, thereby helping young professionals achieve their financial goals effortlessly. CASHe app is available on Google Play and iOS app store

As part of its expansion drive, Wheelstreet a bike rental aggregator has announced its plan to launch its services across tier 2 and tier 3 cities in India. The company will initially roll out its services in 12 cities which include Amritsar, Baghdogra, Jaisalmer, Ooty, Mysore, Jodhpur, Nainital, Srinagar, Pondichery, Guwahati, Manali, and Raipur.

Moksha Srivastava, CoFounder, CMO, Wheelstreet.com said

We are already operational in 13 cities in India including all the metros with over 160 plus vendors actively operating on our platform.  Our experience over the recent months has shown us a massive potential residing in tier 2 and tier 3 cities in India. We believe that there are over 40 cities in India which currently have an unorganised two wheeler rental market and we plan to expand our presence to cover all these cities by this year end.

We are currently operating in 13 plus cities without a single Wheelstreet employee on the field. It is a complete technology platform, wherein vendors and customers can avail the benefits seamlessly.

The market has grown in terms of vendors and in terms of customers as well. People have now started going on road trips with their friends and have started using their bike as a functional element and as a style statement. This segment has emerged in recent years into a unique platform as we were the first in this segment to start the bike rental aggregator model.

The market size of bike rental segment is very huge and the total Serviceable Available Market [SAM] is estimated to be around USD 4.6 billion. The market has been growing rapidly from when Wheelstreet began with only 200 bikes in Bengaluru to over 4000 today featuring on the platform.

Wheelstreet has also standardized the pricing towards helping the vendors in the long run. The vendors associated with Wheelstreet earn up to Rs 2 Lakhs a month. Along with this the technology that the company has incorporated into this model and the way they have dealt with potential loopholes has helped Wheelstreet scale in a short period of time.

About Wheelstreet

Wheelstreet.com is a bike rental aggregator that works with independent vendors enabling them to offer personalized services including different pricing structures for the same bike, multiple pickup locations, a huge fleet of the latest bikes and real time availability on the platform. It is a marketplace for vendors and people looking to rent bikes.

Wheelstreet.com was launched in November, 2014 and is headquartered in Bangalore.  They have a presence in most major cities across India including, Pune, Delhi, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Kolkata, Darjeeling, Jaipur and Hyderabad. The company was founded by Moksha Srivastava and Pranay Shrivastava, two friends in their early twenties. With a fair amount of market research backing the need for an organized two wheeler rental marketplace, they initially began operations in Delhi as the first of its kind in India. For more information, please visit Wheelstreet

MoneyTap, India’s first App-Based Credit Line, has been awarded as the leading FinTech company, in the lending category, at PICUP Fintech 2017. PICUP Fintech is an event by FICCI to recognize the best innovations from Fintech companies in diverse areas like Wealthtech, Lending, Payments, Artificial Intelligence and Robotics. The event witnessed diverse groups of FinTech players, leading bankers, technology experts and policy makers. The event was organized by a joint effort of NASSCOM, FICCI, IBA and BCG in Mumbai.

Six companies from each category were shortlisted after applying for a product demonstration. MoneyTap, Faircent, Cropin SmartRisk, GraduFund, FlexiLoans, FinTechLabs were the six shortlisted companies in the Lending category. These companies presented their latest innovations and overall business to the audience and industry jury members comprising of Sunny KP-General Manager, Federal Bank, Jayant Kshirsagar-Director (Marketing), SAP and Ashish Garg-Partner, BCG. MoneyTap was the top company to be selected by the jury members’ basis the presentation and product demo.

Kunal Varma, Co-founder, MoneyTap said

We feel honored to be recognised as the leading FinTech company at PICUP Fintech 2017. It gives us immense pleasure to be recognised by the top officials of the industry. This recognition gives a boost to our motto of providing a convenient credit line to the middle income group of our country and making the availability of money easier and faster.

MoneyTap introduced the concept of a Credit Line [personal line of credit for consumers] for the first time in India when it launched in September 2016. The ‘Credit Line’ means that the bank will issue a limit of up to INR 5 lakhs, without any collateral or charging any interest. Against this limit, using the MoneyTap app, consumers can borrow as little as Rs. 3000 or as much as Rs. 5 lakhs and repay it as EMIs from 2 months to 3 years.

The MoneyTap app is available on Android Playstore to all salaried employees, living in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad and Chennai. The company is continuously expanding across India.

About MoneyTap

MoneyTap is a Bangalore-based fintech startup, founded by serial entrepreneurs Bala Parthasarathy, Anuj Kacker & Kunal Varma, who are IIT/ISB alumni. Bala has co-founded multiple startups in Silicon Valley including Snapfish [sold to Hewlett Packard], which he helped grow to 100M users and USD 300M in revenue. MoneyTap works in very close partnerships with various banks and other financial institutions to make the process painless and on-app. For more details, please visit MoneyTap

Setting the stage for Government of Andhra Pradesh’s ambitious initiative, #SpringConference 2017 was inaugurated at Novotel, Visakhapatnam today. Fintech Valley Vizag is Government of Andhra Pradesh’s flagship initiative that brings together industry, academia and investors to innovate, co-create & build the fintech ecosystem. The Fintech Spring Conference 2017 marks the beginning of this journey.

The primary objective of the event is to explore trends and opportunities in fintech. This is a platform where the finest minds of financial and startup community get to share mind-space with thought leaders, business leaders, artists, actors, musicians, futurists and entrepreneurs.

Offering full support to organisations, incubators, facilitators and start-ups, inviting anyone with disruptive ideas to be a part of Fintech Valley, on the edge of innovation, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Nara Chandrababu Naidu interacted with delegates for an hour over video conference and took inputs from fintech community present at the Spring Conference.

He will chair The Fintech Valley Forum setup to focus on various aspects of the ecosystem creation. While addressing the gathering he said

The Fintech Valley Spring Conference is our step in joining the Fourth Industrial Revolution which is a spectacular combination of technology and Internet of Things [IoT]. In recent times, technology has started influencing our lives in a comprehensive manner. The demand for Fintech is growing each day. To meet this demand, we would need the support from Fintech and Cyber security companies. We also need the academic institutions to adapt curriculum that trains individuals to contribute to fintech sector. I extend my best wishes for the success of the initiative and hope it provides multiple opportunities to meet the futuristic requirements of our country and the global economy at large.

In his keynote address, Special Chief Secretary and IT Advisor to the AP Chief Minister, J. A. Chowdary stated

Indian IT 1.0 is facing difficulties. The next flight towards IT 2.0 will be backed by fintech. The tectonic shifts this will cause and entail is captured by the expression ‘fintectonics’. It is a fintech culture we are creating here-a culture of doing something for the betterment of the common man, a culture of creating an ecosystem by getting the right industry linkages and finding the right formula for the critical manpower.

Present on the dais were Roy Teo, Director, Fintech & Innovation Group, Monetary Authority of Singapore [MAS]; Utkarsh Palnitkar, Partner KPMG; George Inasu-COO, Fidelity Financial Services; Puneet Pushkarna, Chairman, TIE-Singapore & Joe Seunghyun Cho, Co-founder and Chairman, Marvelstone Group.

Keynote speakers at the conference

To accelerate the evolution of Fintech Valley, the Government of Andhra Pradesh [GoAP] has also initiated a fintech networking event every month, in addition to the annual fintech international flagship event. This year, on October 9-10, the government will host the Blockchain Technology International Event. The flagship Global Fintech Summit will take place on Feb 19th & 20th, 2018. This event provides the opportunity to participate in the $1 million global fintech award challenge and the INR 1 crore Indian fintech award challenge.

An invigorating Investment Panel Discussion on ‘Funding Fintech – wearing an investor’s hat‘ was moderated by P. S. Sreekanth, Investment Director, Hyderabad Angels; Sampath Iyengar, Partner, Forum Synergies; Abhinav Chaturvedi, Principal, Accel Partners; Prasad Vanga, Founder & CEO, Anthill Ventures; Utkarsh Sinha, Enterprise Technology Investor, Bitkemy Ventures; Puneet Pushkarna, Chairman, TiE-Singapore & Utkarsh Palnitkar, Partner and National Head IGS Advisory Management, KPMG. Beginning the discussion with the post demonetization scenario, the panelists sustained their dynamic dialogue in identifying fintech investment portfolios with high RoIs.

Additionally, the finalists’ demos and presentations for the ICICI Bank Start-Up Challenge & the HDFC Life Start-Up Challenge were showcased to the audience, wherein the competitors took questions from the judging panelists. Following this, another Banking Panel Discussion on Consumers and Marketplaces changing in an increasingly cashless world was moderated by Neha Punater, Partner and Head Fintech, KPMG. Key panelists Akhil Handa, Advisor to MD&CEO, Bank of Baroda; Shashi Bhushan, Managing Director, Investment Management Technology, Goldman Sachs India; Ramesh Loganathan, Professor, IIIT Hyderabad and Sudin Baraokar, Head of Innovation SBI discussed challenges faced by start-ups in being unable to identify and direct resources towards the accurate fintech problem area. They also proposed the need to create a consolidated industry-wide ‘use case’ library to facilitate innovation.

Furthering collaboration towards developing this ecosystem, the Government also signed a partnership agreement with Lattice80, Pearson, Anthill Ventures, HackerEarth, F6S, Forum Synergies, Hyderabad Angels, Zone Startups, ParadigmIT and Trade Land Finance Tech Consortium [TLF].

The first Fintech Valley Vizag Spring Conference brought together fintech companies, start-ups, researchers and key government officials working in the fintech sector and provided opportunities for disruptive business solutions.

The peaceful atmosphere offered by Visakhapatnam compared to other bustling tech-hubs in India, created a serene environment for igniting fintech innovation and disruption ideas at the Fintech Valley Spring Conference. Fintech Valley Vizag is rapidly becoming the epicenter of fintech disruption. Since the launch of Fintech Tower, the Andhra Pradesh government has signed numerous partnership agreements with renowned educational institutions, corporations and governments that share the state’s vision of becoming pioneers for building strong standards for fintech and mutually sharing the desire in working towards cooperative advancement through information and resource sharing.

About Fintech Valley Vizag

The Fintech Valley brings together public and private players, state of the art incubators and accelerators, innovation labs, mentorships, angel investors and anyone willing to break free from traditional processes. The self-sustained global Fintech Ecosystem provides more than just access to Fintech and its innovators; it nurtures an oasis in which cyber security, block chain, digital education and research thrive at international standards. For more information, please visit Fintech Valley Vizag

About Spring Conference 2017

Fintech Valley Vizag is Government of Andhra Pradesh’s flagship initiative that brings together industry, academia and investors to innovate, co-create and build the Fintech ecosystem. The Fintech Spring Conference 2017 marks the beginning of this new journey. Spring conference will have CXOs from Fintech companies, start-ups & financial services. For more information, please visit Spring Conference 2017

If there is one Bollywood movie that gave serious travel to it’s audience, it has to be Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara where three friends travel to Spain for a bachelor trip and as expected the trip turns out to be fruitful for all of them 🙂 For Nishchal Dua, an avid traveller and entrepreneur, that ZNMD moment struck in the year 2016 when he travelled across India & three other countries.

That ZNMD moment made him thinking as to ‘Why be bound to one location even though you have the freedom to travel & move around‘ This is the thought that gave birth to The Remote Life which is on a mission to get more & more people out of their cubicles and into the real world as the team behind the idea rightly believe Work should not come in the way of travel.

The Remote Life was brought into implementation in December 2016 with the simple mantra ‘Travel the world, work remotely and meet awesome people‘. Today we have a chat with Nishchal Dua, Founder & CEO of The Remote Life where we discuss about his entrepreneurial journey, how travel can benefit entrepreneurs/freelancers, etc., nuances of the program, marketing, etc.

So let’s get started with the Q&A…

How did you come up with the idea of The Remote Life ?

I spent the greater part of 2016 travelling across India and to 3 other countries. During this time, I met a lot of people, shared stories and experiences and realized how travel is that one thing that almost everyone wishes for but are not able to do it. And the constraints are not financial but societal. It was during my trek to the Mt. Everest Base Camp when Remote Life started taking shape during discussions with Nitin, Luke, Emma and Chinmoy.

Can you share some details about the team behind The Remote Life

I am a serial entrepreneur and I have travelled extensively. My first company was incubated at IIM-Ahmedabad but soon went sideways and had to be shut down after multiple pivots. From those learnings I started Amicus Shopping Assistant and it was acquired in early 2016. I have worked with MakeMyTrip and Amadeus-both are leading travel companies.

What is the target audience for The Remote Life and some of the countries that are listed as a part of the program ?

The people most keen on joining The Remote Life are entrepreneurs and freelancers who have a stable income as well as the independence to work remotely.

The itinerary currently includes Indonesia, Cambodia & Thailand. We would be expanding to other regions very soon.

Can you walk us through the financials of the program and how it can help entrepreneurs ?

It is possible to join the program for as little as $1100/month and that covers one month of accommodation, office space, food & experiences. We also include visa, insurance, local sim card & airport pickup & drop.

For entrepreneurs specially we have dedicated workshops on Digital Marketing, basics of technology, how to get PR, personal branding and mentorship. Additionally we also have meetups with local entrepreneurs and those across the globe to widen the network and allow ideas to flow.

Any particular reason, there is no mention of Investors [who can join entrepreneurs for The Remote Life] as it might also resulting in funding the entrepreneur’s idea ?

We are open to the idea but not promoting it actively. A constant feedback from the investor community is that it is not very easy for them to work remotely for a month and they would love to join for a couple of days and interact with the entrepreneurs. Also, ‘getting funded’ should not be an entrepreneurs goal.

Can you share some numbers, as to how many entrepreneurs/freelancers/targeted audience have signed up for the program ?

We have received nearly 1200+ sign ups on our website and shortlisted 220 applicants. These 220 applicants will be called by our team to discuss their plans and post that we will finalize the participants.

How much has your experience in Amicus resulted in shaping up the idea of The Remote Life ?

Everything we do leads up to what and how we approach a problem in future. Yes, my experience with Amicus helped a lot in how I think, plan and execute. The mistakes I make now are very different from the ones I have already made with Amicus.

Off late, a lot of startups are moving away from Tier-1 cities like Bangalore, Mumbai, etc. to places that are not predominantly IT driven? Won’t this affect scaling,hiring,etc. w.r.t the startup

The problem with most first time entrepreneurs is how they have only read success stories and interviews and make business decisions based on that. You don’t need to scale or hire unless you have a clear value proposition and business model. Most of the startups can easily be built by 3~4 people in a room with multiple skills between them. I don’t see the point in spending 3~4 hours a day in Bangalore’s traffic and pollution when there’s very little to be gained from it.

Can you name some of the competitors of The Remote Life ?

HackersParadise is doing great. They have built a community of software developers that travel the world and work on cool projects remotely.

How do you ensure to keep the costs of The Remote Life in-tact (without compromising on the experience] ?

I have travelled extensively and built friendships on the way. It’s because of this that I have partners across multiple countries with whom we have exclusive tie ups to ensure the program remains economical. In fact, we are almost 40% more economical than HackersParadise.

What is the funding status of The Remote Life ?

It is entirely self funded. We are not actively looking for investors but love feedback 🙂

2016 was a tough year for startups [especially from funding point of view], how according to you should entrepreneurs deal with such adverse situations ?

I believe it was a really good year. Lots of startups shut down and many more struggled to raise funds forcing them to focus instead on trivial issues like customer acquisition and restructuring the business model.

Can you share some tips for building an effective team for startups [especially the initial core team] ?

Don’t build it. If you go out to hire people for your core team then you’re doing something wrong. Just look at your speed dial or Whatsapp for the people who are closest to you and can be trusted with life. Those are you co-founders. Core team should be about trust and not skill. For skills, you can always hire people.

How important is it for early stage startups to pivot their business model or when is the right time to pivot ?

There is no right answer for this. Startups work because they pivoted, fail because they pivoted and it is only in retrospect that you know what the right time to pivot was.

Your earlier startup was acquired, can you share some tips that can help entrepreneurs who are looking for getting acquired/acqui-hired ?

Focus on one thing. Just one. Is it your user base, your revenue, technology or team? Pick one, make sure you kick ass in that segment and approach the right people with that pitch. But remember your one clear value proposition.

We thank Nishchal for his time and sharing valuable insights for our readers! If you are a freelancer/entrepreneur/travel freak and have the itch to travel (as well as network), head on to Travel programs by The Remote Life If you have any questions for Nishchal Dua & his team about the program, entrepreneurship etc., email them to himanshu.sheth@gmail.com

The National Institute of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj announced the launch of India’s first focused Rural Innovation and Startup Conclave [RISC] to be held on the 23rd and 24th of March 2017, at NIRDPR, Hyderabad. The focus of the two day event is to build capacities and promote fresh talent by giving them platform to display their innovations, encourage greater learning, and strengthen the cadre of young rural innovators and start-ups.

Indian start-ups are mostly IT based and cater to urban services. Innovation and Technology Diffusion for rural development is the need of the hour. Other important stakeholders who act as support systems to rural innovators are still evolving. There is a need to develop and nurture mentors, angel investors, faculty, corporates, media so that they play a much more active role in contributing to the ecosystem.

Speaking at the launch, Dr.W.R.Reddy, IAS, Director General NIRDPR, Hyderabad, said

Since more than 60 per cent of the Indian population live in the villages, the improvement of their living conditions should be anchored and promoted by innovation and technology development and their dissemination for improving the productivity and wealth creation.

In addition, RISC2017 will feature RISC Awards 2017 under Six domain areas namely 1. Agriculture and Allied 2. Green Energy Technologies 3. Drinking Water, Health and Sanitation 4. Waste to Wealth 5. Sustainable Housing and 6. Other Livelihoods,  which will be a Platform for demonstration and recognition of Rural Innovations and Technologies. Nominations for the same will be through its website, and the last date of nominations will be on the 10th of March 2017. Nomination will be accepted in the areas of Idea with Prototype and Startup Stage.

NIRDPR Spokesperson said

We are reaching out across the country and hope to see some good participation for the RISC Awards 2017. We have already received 25 entries so far.

About NIRDPR

The National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, an autonomous organisation under the Union Ministry of Rural Development, is a premier national centre of excellence in rural development and Panchayati Raj. Recognized internationally as one of the UN-ESCAP Centres of Excellence, it builds capacities of rural development functionaries, elected representatives of PRIs, bankers, NGOs and other stakeholders through inter-related activities of training, research and consultancy. For more information, please visit National Institute of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj

The Honourable Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Chandrababu Naidu presided over the signing of two significant MoU with fintech multinationals Visa and Thomson Reuters at Mumbai. The milestone represents another firm step by the state government designed to catapult Fintech Valley Vizag as the national and global hub for Fintech innovation.

Also hosting the event were Mr. J. A. Chowdary, Special Chief Secretary and IT Advisor to the AP Chief Minister, Ms. Latha Ayyar, Special Representative for Innovation & IT in the Government of AP & COO, Bharti AXA, Mr. Vijayanand, IT Secretary for Government of AP, Mr. J Satyanarayana, UIDAI chairperson and former IT Secretary, Mr. T.R Ramachandran, Group Country Manager, Visa India & South Asia and Mr. Pradeep Lankapalli, Managing Director, Thomson Reuters South Asia.

The Government of Andhra Pradesh is also hosting the first Fintech Valley Vizag Spring Conference 2017 on March 9~10, 2017. The conference will bring together fintech companies, start-ups, researchers and key government officials who are working in the fintech sector, and will provide opportunities for disruptive business solutions. With a special focus on nurturing start-ups, the conference will also announce the winners of the Fintech Startup Challenge who will receive INR 15 lakh prize and free infrastructure for six months in the Fintech Tower.

Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu said

Our vision is to create 5 lakh jobs in Andhra Pradesh by 2020 through technology-enabled services. Fintech Valley is a playground for start-ups and innovators. Our aim is to turn Fintech Valley into a global hub by enhancing the fintech ecosystem with mutually beneficial cross border collaborations and relationships. This can lead the way in the technological and financial growth of the nation.

J. A. Chowdary, Special Chief Secretary & IT Advisor to the Chief Minister, Government of Andhra Pradesh added

These MoUs are steps towards converting our vision to reality – of making AndhraPradesh the leader in fintech ecosystem – through Fintech Valley Vizag. Both these companies, VisaThomson Reuters, are industry leaders in their space and we are excited to be working with them.

As per the MoU between Visa and Government of Andhra Pradesh, the parties intend to collaborate to develop a robust digital payment ecosystem in Vizag through a multi-level approach that targets several stakeholders.

Through the promotion of awareness campaigns and educational programmes, the MoU sets out to encourage both merchants and consumers to accept and adopt digital payments. To make payments more efficient for businesses, the government is taking Visa’s support to enable digital payments for government and business segments, including the latest technologies in Quick Response [QR] code and Near-Field Communication [NFC]. Visa will also develop a curriculum for government and consumers, including modules to scale financial literacy. By encouraging the use of electronic payments in the city, with a special focus to include traditionally underserved segments, the agreement promises to make Vizag more financially inclusive and accepting of the digital future.

TR Ramachandran, Group Country Manager, Visa India & South Asia, speaking on this collaboration said

Visa welcomes the opportunity to partner with the State Government of Andhra Pradesh on this unique and strategic endeavor. We propose to undertake this initiative as a part of Visa’s global financial inclusion efforts that aim to provide 500 million underserved with a payment account by 2020.

We are committed to bringing Visa’s global expertise, innovations, and resources to make this endeavor a success. With the launch of BharatQR, a global first of its kind low cost payment solution, we hope to rapidly scale up the number of small merchants accepting digital payments. In addition, we hope to implement innovative commercial payment solutions that will accrue significant benefits to the state.

Commenting on the MoU, Pradeep Lankapalli, Managing Director, Thomson Reuters South Asia said

The Andhra Pradesh Government’s vision of transforming Visakhapatnam as the next fintech destination is admirable. As world’s oldest fintech company, with 150 years of financial innovation history, Thomson Reuters will serve as an accelerator in this journey. Our Open platform technology and access to global best practices, will provide the right enablers and expertise to the Andhra Pradesh government as they pursue the goal of building a global fintech hub.

Fintech Valley Vizag is fast becoming the epi-centre of fintech disruption. Since the launch of Fintech Tower, the Andhra Pradesh government has signed thirteen MoUs, of which six are with renowned educational institutions and seven with corporations seeking to disrupt the fintech sector.

The Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh has offered full support to companies, incubators, facilitators and start-ups, inviting anyone with disruptive ideas to be a part of Fintech Valley, on the edge of innovation. Aiding the state’s efforts to make Vizag a global destination for fintech disruptors and innovators is KPMG, the Knowledge Partner of the Fintech Valley Vizag.

The IT sector in Vizag has achieved an annual turnover of INR 2,000 crore. The city is supported by a robust industrial base and educational infrastructure that is being expanded with the support of innovative start-ups and firms. Additionally, it offers peaceful solace compared to the bustling tech-hubs India otherwise offers, to innovate the future of fintech.

About Fintech Valley Vizag

The Fintech Valley brings together public and private players, state of the art incubators and accelerators, innovation labs, mentorships, angel investors and anyone willing to break free from traditional processes. The self-sustained global Fintech Ecosystem provides more than just access to Fintech and its innovators; it nurtures an oasis in which cyber security, block chain, digital education and research thrive at international standards. For more information, please visit Fintech Valley Vizag

About Spring Conference 2017

Fintech Valley Vizag is Government of Andhra Pradesh’s flagship initiative that brings together industry, academia and investors to innovate, co-create and build the Fintech ecosystem. The Fintech Spring Conference 2017 marks the beginning of this new journey. Spring conference will have CXOs from Fintech companies, start-ups & financial services. For more information, please visit Spring Conference 2017