Bharat COOPATHON – Urban Fintech Challenge 2025

Bharat COOPATHON – Urban Fintech Challenge 2025

About the Program

The Bharat COOPATHON – Urban Fintech Challenge 2025 is a national hackathon co-created by IIMA Ventures, NUCFDC and ICA-YCwith support from regulators, cooperative banking bodies, and industry leaders.

This flagship initiative aims to modernize India’s Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs) by deploying secure, indigenous, and scalable fintech solutions. More than a competition, it is a capacity-building movement to strengthen UCBs as pillars of financial inclusion, data sovereignty, and community-driven banking, while preparing them for the digital future.

Program Objectives

Identify and accelerate fintech solutions across compliance, cybersecurity, payments, risk management, and modernization for UCBs.

Champion indigenous, cooperative-owned digital frameworks to ensure affordability and data sovereignty.

Build a National UCB Technology & Compliance Database for benchmarking and long-term sector growth.

Foster structured partnerships among fintechs, NUCFDC, and UCBs from pilot stage to commercial deployment.

WHAT WE OFFER

Access to UCBs for pilot testing and real-world integration.

Mentorship from IIMA Ventures, NUCFDC experts, cooperative leaders, and regulatory advisors.

National visibility through Demo Day with policymakers, investors, and industry leaders.

Seed funding support* & investor showcase opportunities.

A chance to scale winning solutions with UCBs nationwide.

FOCUS AREAS

    Modular CBS, cooperative-specific OS, shared platforms.

    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, central fraud databases.

    RBI/MeitY-compliant hosting, automated reporting, shared KYC/AML utilities.

    Microcredit models, financial literacy tools, MSME lending innovations.

Who Can Apply

  • Pre-seed, Seed, and Early Growth Stage startups with at least an MVP, pilot deployment, or early traction.

  • Startups with demonstrable tech deployment readiness for UCBs.

  • Teams solving problems relevant to smaller UCBs with scalable, affordable solutions.