Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) has set up a ‘Centre of Excellence in FinTech’ in Chennai, first of its kind in India, with an objective to provide resources in terms of mentoring, technology support and funding for FinTech startups. Called ‘FinBlue’, the centre intends to incubate over 58 startups in the next five years.
The venture entails investments to the tune of over ₹23 crore, given by various stakeholders.
“Chennai is emerging fast in the financial landscape. That’s one key reason why we wanted to set up this centre here,” Omkar Rai, director general – STPI and chairman of governing council of FinBlue, told The Hindu. STPI has been set up and is in the process of setting up more such centres in sectors such as internet of things (IoT), artificial intelligence, gaming and animation, healthcare, cyber security and data analytics, he added.
Tamil Nadu Information and Technology Secretary Santhosh Babu said the centre would be of enormous help to entrepreneurs in the FinTech space. Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu Limited (ELCOT) and the State government will provide support for FinBlue.
Highly beneficial
Sanjay Tyagi, director, STPI and CEO of FinBlue, said with the right partners on board, budding entrepreneurs in the FinTech space would benefit significantly. Chennai-based Intellect Design Arena Limited will provide software tools, and its chairman and managing director Arun Jain will be the chief mentor for FinBlue.
Pontaq, a UK-based Venture Capital (VC) firm, has committed to support FinBlue startups with $2 million of seed investment. STPI has signed an MoU with the National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) for providing support to startups for filing for intellectual property rights (IPR) like patenting, trademark, copyright and other IPR-related support.
Till date, over 78 applications have been received for FinBlue from various States, including Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Karnataka among others. The startups will undergo various levels of screening that will be done by The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), Chennai. STPI is looking at startups that fall under trading, banking, insurance, wealth advisory and financial inclusion portfolios, among others. Each startup will be offered a minimum of five seats. The startups have to offer equity of upto 5% to STPI, as per the present valuation.
Startups, on boarding this centre, will be given access to the FinBlue sandbox, which includes core banking software (CBS). They will also be provided access to funding, mentorship and marketing.
