India FinTech Festival (IFF) 2020, India’s first homegrown global platform to drive Fintech innovation in the country has opened applications for its marquee show ‘FInD the next Unicorn’, giving a chance to Indian consumer fintech startups to spot raise pre Series A up to $1M.
IFF 2020 is being presented by Mumbai Fintech Hub (Government of Maharashtra), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and Fintech Convergence Council (FCC) on March 4 and 5 at MMRDA grounds, Bandra Kurla Complex. The event is supported by Department of Financial Services, NITI Aayog, Invest India, Digital India, World Bank and UNCDF (United Nations Capital Development Fund). Medici is the program partner for the IFF 2020.
Similar in concept to the popular American TV series Shark Tank, ‘FInD the next Unicorn’ is a fast-paced, business reality event to showcase India’s top ten early-stage FinTech startups looking to raise funding from a panel of five marquee investors.
The eligibility criteria for the application includes:
- Must be an India-based start-up
- Should be looking for less than or equal to $1M
- Must have a consumer-facing product
- No ideation stage, must have a product
- Must have some positive revenue generation
A five member jury is to shortlist 20 applicants for a closed door semifinal, slated to be held in mid-February in Mumbai. Of the 20 startups, 10 will be selected to present their idea at the finale to be held at the India Fintech Festival on March 5.
“India has been home to 25 Unicorns and we believe that the zest from the fintech startup ecosystem will help us discover more start-ups that can take the number to 100 by 2025. FInD the next Unicorn is borne out of this zeal to discover such ideas and people and take them to the next level. In addition to the spot funding commitment, FInD the Next Unicorn will also give a massive exposure to these startups by bringing them to the centre stage of the fintech ecosystem and help them get noticed by more investors who are willing to support them,” said Suniti Nanda, Fintech Officer, Mumbai Fintech Hub, Government of Maharashtra.
During the finale each of the 10 shortlisted startups will get 10 minutes to present their ideas to an audience of 1,500 people and spot pitch to a marquee investor panel of 5 members including the likes of Mr. Amrish Rau, India CEO of PayU and Mr. Sanjay Mehta, Founder and Partner of 100x.vc. An on-the-spot funding commitment of up to $1M will be made by the panel in the startup whose idea is found to be the most convincing.
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