Fintech Valley Vizag launches Accelerator Program for technology focused startups

Pune: Fintech Valley Vizag, a sustainable global Fintech ecosystem has launched the Fintech Valley Accelerator Program to develop a high potential fintech ecosystem focused on co-creating innovative solutions to address the evolving needs of India’s dynamic financial services landscape. The accelerator program is in collaboration with ICICI Bank and Mahindra Finance as corporate partners and Microsoft as the technology & acceleration partner. This four-month resident program will provide selected fintech startups an opportunity to speed up their development through a combination of support, guidance and training.
The first cohort of the accelerator program will have a group of selected finalists working to develop solutions for four key focus areas: Financial Inclusion, Security and Fraud Prevention and Customer and Risk analytics for a period of 4 months.
Mr. J A Chowdhary, Special Chief Secretary & IT Advisor to the Chief Minister – – ‎Government of Andhra Pradesh said, “The Government of Andhra Pradesh and Fintech Valley Vizag are committed to developing Fintech Valley Vizag as the epicentre to converge finance and technology and thereby create a high potential global fintech ecosystem and catalyse the sector’s growth in India. The accelerator program aims to act as a catalyst in the growth of startups by connecting them to the leading Fintech ecosystem players. We are excited to have partners like ICICI Bank, Mahindra Finance and Microsoft who have always leveraged technology by pioneering digital innovations to provide world-class banking experience to their customers.”
ICICI Bank and Mahindra Finance will provide business mentorship to the selected fintech startups and explore partnerships with them by implementing their solutions in their ecosystem, while Microsoft will provide technology and business mentorship to the selected start-ups and access to Microsoft products and services under its Bizspark program.
The selection process for the accelerator program has commenced and will finalise 10-12 startups by mid-September. The first cohort of the four-month intensive program will start in the first week of October. The four-month intensive program promoted by the government will support the selected startups by providing access to technology resources, mentoring on fund raising, legal guidance, market access to over a million of customers from partner financial institutions amongst many other initiatives to speed up the process of scaling their businesses. The selected participants of the accelerator program will also receive a financial incentive of INR 4 lakhs to provide for any operational exigencies during the four-month duration.
The program will conclude with a grand demo day in January 2018, in the presence of corporates, mentors and investors from across the world. This is in continuation of the vision of the AP Government to bring ecosystem players together in the Fintech Valley and nurture a ‘fintectonic’ culture in the state that enables traditional models of business.