Contextualized support for Inclusive fintech, skilling and livelihood generating innovations
Bharat Inclusion Initiative (BII) is an effort towards bringing the benefits of technological progress to underserved populations. Led by IIMA Ventures (Formerly known as CIIE.CO), BII is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, J.P. Morgan, MetLife Foundation, the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and Omidyar Network.
The Initiative focuses on incubating and backing startups that work in areas such as financial inclusion, livelihood, skilling and health. All startups supported by the Initiative use technology as leverage to increase reach and build products that serve the underserved. For ambitious entrepreneurs working on problems of the Bharat market, the Bharat Inclusion Initiative provides domain knowledge, training, financial support, mentorship and market access they need to bring inclusive, for-profit businesses to life. It supports businesses serving the Indian mass market through programs, fellowships and funding where possible.
INVESTIGATE
Pursuing foundational questions that inform and enable entrepreneurial interventions for Bharat.
ACCELERATE
De-risking entrepreneurial journeys through training, mentoring, market access and grant capital.
STIMULATE
Sharing insights, sparking conversations and inspiring entrepreneurs to build for Bharat.
INVEST
Fueling ventures harnessing technology to solve hard inclusion problems at scale.
INVESTIGATE
Pursuing foundational questions that inform and enable entrepreneurial interventions for Bharat.
ACCELERATE
De-risking entrepreneurial journeys through training, mentoring, market access and grant capital.
STIMULATE
Sharing insights, sparking conversations and inspiring entrepreneurs to build for Bharat.
INVEST
Fueling ventures harnessing technology to solve hard inclusion problems at scale.
Most FinTechs in India focus solely on technologically savvy affluent customers in metro cities. Startups building for the Low-and-Middle Income (LMI) segments need deep support to develop innovative, technology-enabled solutions for underserved communities. However, most incubator and accelerator programs in India offer standardized and limited support with no focus specifically on the LMI segments. Realizing this gap, IIMA Ventures has set up the Financial Inclusion Lab under the Bharat Inclusion Initiative (BIl).
The Lab aims to improve the financial health of India's underserved LMI segments by supporting startups in the areas of FinTech, Skilling and Livelihood. IIMA Ventures is collaborating with MSC Consulting, an international digital financial inclusion consultancy firm, to provide startups with high-touch advisory and insights into the LMI segment. We supported 50 startups in six cohorts in the last 4 years to build and validate their solutions. Cumulatively, these startups have already served over 32 million individuals and have raised over $120 million in funding post their participation in the Lab.
Bharat Inclusion Champions is a unique entrepreneurship support program that supports individuals and teams to get started with building technology-enabled solutions for financial inclusion. By supporting these, from the idea stage through the market validation stage and by evangelizing their insights and solutions, we seek to nurture the next set of game-changers that will positively impact Bharat. The program also has a special focus on solutions leveraging data, digital consent, and other upcoming public platforms of India Stack.
The program is designed as a collaboration. The duration of the program is 6-12 months but may vary depending on the solutions being developed. Seven Champions have been supported, who have activated four disruptive use-cases.
Bharat Inclusion Sprint is an assemblage of short deep dives into topics of interest for Bharat Entrepreneurs. It includes sessions or workshops by India Stack experts, financial inclusion practitioners, researchers and startup founders who share their insights, learnings and best practices.
Sprints are designed for engaging discussions. With the focus firmly on insights sharing (and not marketing), startup teams, investors and others receive valuable takeaways that help them in their journeys. They are also a great way for founders to know about IIMA Ventures and our offerings for startups.
16 Sprints were conducted across 9 cities that were attended by over 400 participants.
16
Sprints
9
Cities
400
Participients
Amidst the pandemic, 12 online webinars were organized which were attended by 850+ participants..
12
Online Webniars
850+
Participients
Insights on the relevance and suitability of technology-enabled solutions for financial inclusion have been limited and mostly anecdotal. Among other factors, this lack of understanding of consumer-technology interaction has hindered entrepreneurs from developing effective solutions for the underserved. The Bharat Inclusion Research Fellowship is our effort towards generating deep knowledge of the needs, habits, preferences, and constraints of the financially underserved segment in India. Insights generated will be channelled towards the identification of gaps and opportunities in the financial inclusion space.
We supported 12 Research Fellowships in 2 Cohorts from a Range of Focus Areas.
We support Fellows with financial resources, mentorship and networking support, connecting fellows with peers, subject matter experts and academics for guidance and review. Fellows are also extended access to in-house researchers specialising in financial inclusion and to designing resources for collaboration for assistance with publication.
Bharat Inclusion Seed Fund has been set up to support innovative ventures that are leveraging technology to build inclusive solutions for Bharat in areas including financial inclusion, livelihood, education and health. We partner early, at the seed and pre-series A stages, and remain deeply engaged along every step of the startup’s journey. So far, the fund has made 8 investments across FinTech, EdTech, GigTech and digital enablers.
Technologies and platforms such as JAM and the India Stack amongst others have vastly reduced the cost structures to deliver financial and other products - enabling significant market expansion extending to previously unviable markets. These new markets will likely require fundamentally different products and customised business models. Our belief is that new players will bring in the fresh thinking, creativity and entrepreneurial energy required to succeed in these markets. When they succeed, they will increase the depth of inclusion and formalisation in the country.
Our research on financial inclusion is designed to equip founders and startups building solutions for the hard problem of financial inclusion. It is primarily aimed at unpacking a sharper understanding of the Bharat customer and their financial lives, which in turn, informs the development of financial products and services.
Research in this theme is primarily anchored within the Bharat Inclusion Initiatives and its research program – Financial Inclusion for Rural Transformation.
The Bharat Inclusion Summit is designed as a platform to reflect upon the lessons and deliberate on the way forward for inclusive fintech in India. These deliberations will take three forms - carefully curated panel discussions, forward looking fireside chats, and intensive product design workshops. The summit will bring together industry and policy leaders, leading corporates, early stage and scaled-up startups and investors as speakers. It will also create intentional spaces for networking and collaborations to be germinated among players (including but not limited to startups, investors and corporates) in the inclusive fintech ecosystem.
