ICICI Securities (I-Sec), a financial services firm, as a part of its CSR initiative, has joined hands with the NS Raghavan Centre of Entrepreneurial Learning (NSRCEL), the start-up hub at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIM-B), to support start-ups in the fintech space through a structured programme.
Start-ups in ideation to early customer stage will be guided by mentors through need assessment, one-on-one interactions and workshops. The 15-month programme is for professionals in insurance, trading, personal finance, banking, wealth advisory, lending and payments and taxation. These start-ups can then glide through to the go-to-market stage and work on scaling up through guidance, workshops, shared learning, funding, goal-setting through launch of POCs and extensive business growth opportunities. Start-ups will be getting exclusive access to IIM-B resources and industry connections in fintech. At the end of the programme, selected start-ups will also be receiving funding support.
Fintech — a natural choice
Vijay Chandok, MD & CEO, ICICI Securities, said: “India is a young nation with over half its population under 25 years. While the country has made significant strides in digitalisation and technological innovation which has made it more competitive in the global landscape, there exists a larger challenge on creation of employment opportunities and jobs for the young population. With the immense potential of the Fintech Sector in jobs creation and economic growth, I-Sec, as part of its CSR initiative, is happy to partner with NSRCEL, one of the oldest incubator cells in the country, to provide mentorship to these start-ups. We do hope that that this joint initiative will lead to many successful ideas which will provide large employment generation opportunities.”
Prof Venkatesh Panchapagesan, Chairperson of NSRCEL at IIM Bangalore said: “We had largely remained sector-agnostic in 20 years and this is our first attempt to create impact in a particular domain. Our motivation is simple —focus on an area where there are highly renowned faculty, sufficiently interested students, a large roster of illustrious alumni in that area and finally a thriving Centre of Excellence with deep connections to the industry. Fintech became the natural choice and we are excited to partner with I-Sec to kickstart our maiden programme.”