The Bharat Coopathon – Fintech Solutions for UCBs Challenge 2025 is a national hackathon co-created by IIMA Ventures and NUCFDC.
The Bharat Coopathon – Fintech Solutions for Urban Cooperative Banks Challenge 2025 is a national hackathon co-created by IIMA Ventures, National Urban Co-operative Finance and Development Corporation (NUCFDC) – an Umbrella Organization of Urban Cooperative Banks, with support from regulators, cooperative banking bodies, and industry leaders. Bharat Coopathon – Fintech Solutions for UCBs.
This flagship initiative aims to modernize India’s UCBs by deploying secure, indigenous, and scalable fintech solutions. More than a competition, it is a capacity-building movement designed to strengthen UCBs as pillars of financial inclusion, data sovereignty, and community-driven banking, preparing them for a digital future.
BBPS, UPI-linked cooperative apps, shared API marketplaces.
Biometric KYC, AI-driven verification, vernacular chatbots.
Audit trails, cooperative ledger exchanges, smart contracts.
AI-powered fraud detection, predictive analytics and centralized fraud databases.
RBI/MeitY-compliant hosting, automated reporting, shared KYC/AML utilities.
ATM & Micro-ATM innovation linked to biometric and UPI rails, Centralized co-op biometric authentication hub, RBI RegTech systems.
Microcredit models, financial literacy tools, MSME lending innovations.
UCB operational data, CBS status and regulatory compliance, cybersecurity posture, secure API frameworks, automated dashboards for KYC, AML, fraud detection, RBI compliance with auto-generated reports and MIS data.
API marketplaces for payments, insurance, and co-lending, Shared KYC/AML utilities for the urban cooperative banking network, Blockchain-based registrations and secure lending platforms.
Pre-seed, Seed, and Early-Growth startups with at least an MVP, a pilot deployment, or demonstrable early traction.
Startups with demonstrable tech deployment readiness for UCBs.
Teams solving problems relevant to smaller UCBs with scalable, affordable solutions.
NUCFDC is the Umbrella Organization for all the Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs) in India. Established to strengthen and modernize the sector, NUCFDC has been mandated by the RBI to provide both fund-based and non-fund-based support to UCBs through capital augmentation, loans, refinance, liquidity assistance, advisory services, and capacity-building initiatives etc., to enhance their operational resilience. The organization is also mandated by RBI to set up a shared, centralized technology infrastructure for all the UCBs to improve efficiencies at affordable cost, ensure regulatory alignment, and enhance the digital capabilities across the sector. Under the guidance of RBI as well as Ministry of Cooperation, NUCFDC focuses on building a resilient, competitive and future-ready UCB ecosystem that contributes meaningfully to national goals of financial inclusion and economic development.
Last date for submission of application is Dec 31, 2025
Once an application is received, we will review it for alignment with program objectives and evaluate based on criteria such as innovation, potential for impact, team strength etc.
Applications are evaluated on a rolling basis. Please expect an update within one month of applying for the program.
Only one application per innovation will be considered. If multiple entries are submitted for the same idea, only the strongest version will be reviewed. Duplicates with less detail or unclear responses may be rejected.
Yes. We are open to considering your application. We request you to highlight the support you have received from the previous programs.