Impact Assessment Study

Fintech Start-up
Incubation Project
A CSR Initiative of ICICI Securities in association
with NSRCEL, IIM Banglore

Submitted by:
Contents
Executive Summary 3
Chapter 1: Overview of ICICI Securities’ CSR Policy 7
1.1 About ICICI Securities and CSR Policy Brief 8
1.2 Thematic Areas of ICICI Securities’ CSR Projects 8
Chapter 2: ICICI Securities’ CSR Project: Fintech Start-up Incubation Project 9
2.1 About the Project and Its Objectives 10
2.2 Alignment with Schedule VII of the Companies Act, 2013 13
2.3 Alignment with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 13
2.4 Alignment with Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) Principles 16
Chapter 3: Impact Assessment Design and Approach 17
3.1 Impact Assessment Study Objectives 18
3.2 Sampling Strategy 18
3.3 Evaluation Framework - OECD DAC 19
3.4 Theory of Change 20
Chapter 4: Impact Assessment Findings 21
Overview of Impact 22
Evaluation Matrix 22
4.1 Effectiveness 25
4.1.1 Cohort Expectations During Launchpad Phase 25
4.1.2 Encouragement and Support to Entrepreneurship Culture 28
4.1.3 User base and Customer-Benefits 30
4.2 Relevance 32
4.2.1 Innovation Supported 32
4.2.2 Relevance of Incubation Sessions 34
4.3 Impact- Project Outcome 35
4.3.1 Financial Inclusion 36
4.3.2 Social Impact 39
4.4. Efficiency 40
4.4.1 Job and Livelihood Opportunities Generated 40
4.4.2 Social Media Outreach 42
4.4.3 Fund Utilization 43
4.4.4 Total Revenue Generated by Start-ups 43
4.5 Coherence 44
4.5.1 Alignment of Project to National Priority Initiatives 45
4.5.2 Coherence in Fintech Start-up Incubation Project 45
4.6 Sustainability 46
Chapter 5: Conclusion and Recommendations 48
Acknowledgement 49
Abbreviations 50
List of Figures and Tables 51
List of 25 Selected Start-ups for Pre-incubation 51
Disclaimer 52

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Impact Assessment Study: Fintech Start-up Incubation Project

Executive Summary
Background:
ICICI Securities, through its’ CSR initiatives, is committed to pro-actively support meaningful and
sustainable socio-economic development in India and enable a larger number of people to participate

communities where it operates and in overall society. Facilitating overall welfare of marginalized
people and of society at large is the driving force of the company’s CSR policy. The company is focused
to work in the areas of healthcare, environment and skill development through its CSR interventions.

With the immense potential of the Fintech Fintech Start-up Incubation Project falls under
Sector in jobs creation and economic growth, the category of clause (ix) (a) “Contribution to
ICICI Securities, as part of its CSR initiative, had incubators or research and development
partnered with N S Raghavan Centre of
Entrepreneurial Learning (NSRCEL) of the Indian engineering and medicine, funded by the
Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) to Central Government or State Government or
incubate Fintech start-ups. Public Sector Undertaking or any agency of
the Central Government or State
Government” of Schedule VII; Section 135 of
the Companies Act, 2013.

Objective:

Nurturing Fintech start-ups through an incubation project to foster a culture of entrepreneurship,

create livelihood opportunities and increase the digital footprints, through this initiative.

This project is an exemplary example of a well-designed CSR project which was strategized to make
available incubator’s support for start-up owners’ capacity building to succeed in their venture. This
support was provided in the form of mentoring and networking sessions as well as through funds.

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Impact Assessment Study: Fintech Start-up Incubation Project

Impact Highlights

Impact Parameters1 Findings

100% PAN India reach (including tier 2 towns like Raipur) through
outreach project, giving an equal opportunity to all interested
candidates to apply
100% start-ups utilized funds by ICICI Securities invested in hiring
people, marketing, technology and product development

Relevance 100% Start-ups learnt the use of Go-to-Market (GTM) methods and
found it very relevant
100% appreciated the overall knowledge of the mentors and
quality of project in fostering entrepreneurship
80% start-up founders stated that the project helped them to build

80% of the top 10 founders ranked sessions on team management,

product road mapping and raising VC and other investments as

Impact (Project 100% start-ups used B2C & B2B models to enable access to digital
Outcome) solutions
100%
42% increase in jobs and livelihood opportunities created by the 10
start-ups one year after the project completion

1155+ jobs* and sources of livelihood generated by 10 start-ups

5000* MSMEs supported through Fintech solutions
INR 19.26 Crores** total revenue generated by 10 start-ups after the
completion of the project
INR 95 Crores* cumulatively raised by 10 start-ups during the
incubation journey
All India reach: Application services developed by 10 start-ups are

Project Advocacy
46 media articles of leading dailies like Times of India and Zee
Business covered the project
2 Lakh+ reach through social media: Around 1,36,000 people
were reached on Twitter, 29,000 viewers on Fintech Events and
36,000 people through Facebook

1
Note: To know more please click on the impact highlight
*Information taken from NSRCEL (2021). Fintech Start-up Incubation Project Report

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Impact Assessment Study: Fintech Start-up Incubation Project

Coherence Alignment of project with government initiatives: Start-up India,

Make in India, AIM, Digital India, NIDHI-PRAYAS and NIDHI-SSS

Sustainability 100% alignment with the relevant UNSDGs: SDG8, SDG9, SDG10,
SDG15 and SDG17
100% alignment with ESG Principles 6 and 8
100%

Fintech Start-up Incubation Project Structure

ICICI Securities aimed to support entrepreneurship Around 25+ sessions with 60+ hours of virtual
and generate sustainable livelihood opportunities engagement from around 40 mentors and
in Fintech domain by fostering ideas and experts from the sector engaged in 70+ hours
incubating start-ups to assist such endeavours of mentoring sessions and multiple
under their "Fintech Start-up Incubation Project”.
The project was well-structured to accomplish its start-ups underwent of intensive incubation
objectives. To start with the project execution, journey from November 2020 to September

number of potential candidates through outreach its kind Fintech Festival to celebrate the
activities. A funnel approach was adapted to success of the 10 Fintech start-ups. There was
shortlist top 25 start-up ideas from a pool of more good social advocacy across the journey of
than 600 expression of interests received. These 25 the project initiative. There were about 45
start-ups were provided with three months of media articles that were published in media
pre-incubation sessions from industry experts. such as Times of India, Economic Times, etc.
and more than 2 lakh viewership in social
start-ups were selected by a panel of experts and media posts.
provided incubation support.

An Impact Assessment study was thereby conducted for Fintech Start-up Incubation Project by
virtually connecting with all stakeholders for the project period of FY 2020-2021. At present the

India.

Impact Findings

The project started in March 2020 till September 2021 and Success case study 1
tremendously supported the Fintech start-ups specially during a global Since May 2022, in partnership
pandemic. The support was provided at each stage from goal setting, with BIAL, Phi Commerce started
serving lakhs of customers with
B2B and B2C models.
go-to-market approach through one-to-one sessions. This project
Success case study 2
Jarvis Invest initially was at no
their technology innovations and thereby the underserved markets. 6 revenue stage. The start-up
out of 10 start-ups had served underserved markets. The impact monetized its services during
generated by the project includes: incubation journey and started
generating revenue from 2021.

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Impact Assessment Study: Fintech Start-up Incubation Project

10 start-ups given equal opportunity to bring forth their innovative Success case study 3
ideas, nurturing entrepreneurship through project support GimBooks (started by Founder
INR 95 Crores cumulatively raised by 10 start-ups during the incubation from Raipur) is serving around 15
Lakh customers in 11 regional
journey languages.
1155+ jobs were created by the 10 start-ups during incubation journey
42% increase in jobs and livelihood opportunities created by the 10 Success case study 4
Startups such as GimBooks and
start-ups one year after the incubation journey IDOS have saved 1375+ trees by
Start-ups have 5000 MSMEs, B2B and B2C retailers spanning across helping organizations go
paper-less.

During the course of impact assessment, the study team developed an Success case study 5
evaluation matrix based on Fintech industry appropriate parameters. The AlgoFox started from ground zero
impact of this project was evaluated based on OECD - DAC Framework
of incubation journey. At present

Coherence and Sustainability. platform for retail traders and

investors.

Overall, the project is in 100% alignment with the below UNSDGs and ESG principles is evident.

Sustainable Development Goals

ESG Principles
Principle 6 :
Principle 8 : Businesses should promote inclusive growth and equitable development

The Fintech Start-up Incubation Project created immense value in nurturing Fintech start-ups and
has left sustainable impact on the nation's Fintech ecosystem. The project has contributed to
providing equal opportunities to the individuals who were aspiring to bring innovation in Fintech
industry. As a way forward, the project can include topics related to ESG domain in incubation session
plan building environment consciousness amongst start-up ecosystems.

6
 Chapter 1:
Overview of ICICI
Securities’ CSR Policy

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Impact Assessment Study: Fintech Start-up Incubation Project

1.1 About ICICI Securities and CSR Policy Brief

investment, insurance, and borrowing.

ICICI Securities, through its CSR policy, is trying to improve the quality of life in the communities
where they operate and in overall society. The initiatives undertaken as part of corporate social

gain. The key objectives of ICICI Securities’ CSR interventions are as below:

Socio-economic development Environment

of marginalized communities related interventions

1.2 Thematic Areas of ICICI Securities’ CSR Projects

ICICI Securities, through its CSR interventions, has implemented multiple CSR projects in healthcare,
environment and skilling domains. The details of the projects implemented, and the target groups
covered under these thematic areas are as below:

Healthcare
Support treatment and Innovation (R & D) models to provide support to combat health issues, lack
of access to healthcare facilities among the marginalized population and malnourished children

vulnerable groups
Skill Development and Sustainable Livelihood
Inclusive growth: Preparing youth from lesser privileged sections for employment through
job-oriented skill training
ICICI Academy for Skills: Building training modules and leveraging support from corporates for
increased chances of employability amongst Youth
Environment Initiatives

environmental ecological sustainability and protection of biodiversity, agroforestry, natural

resources and maintaining quality of soil, air and water.

The Fintech start-up Incubation Project falls under the categories- “Skill Development and Sustainable
Livelihood” of the CSR Policy document of ICICI Securities.2

2
https://www.icicisecurities.com/UPLOAD/ARTICLEIMAGES/CSR_Policy.pdf

8
 Chapter 2:
ICICI Securities’ CSR Project:
Fintech Start-up Incubation
Project

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Impact Assessment Study: Fintech Start-up Incubation Project

2.1 About the Project and Its Objectives

I CICI Securities aims to support and foster a culture of sustainable entrepreneurship with a motive of
incubating the Fintech start-ups and their ecosystem from all over the country by encouraging ideas
in the sector and to support such endeavors under their "Fintech Start-up Incubation Project."

NSRCEL, ICICI Fintech

IIMB Securities Start-ups

Fig.1 Fintech start-up Incubation Project stakeholders

The rationale of ICICI Securities behind supporting Fintech ventures was the intend of creating
enormous potential livelihood opportunities and economic growth through boost in Fintech industry.

Did you Know?

India is one of the fastest-growing
Fintech industries in the world

Source: Economic Times 2022

https://rb.gy/k4wtcz Sector Events- Fintech-Fintech Friday
Source: NSRCEL (2021). Fintech Start-up Incubation Project
Report
Sector Events- Fintech-Fintech Friday
Source: NSRCEL (2021). Fintech Start-up Incubation
Project Report

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Impact Assessment Study: Fintech Start-up Incubation Project

Project Structure and Timelines

Outreach
Digital Marketing: Organic and Paid
Promotions (Repost by mentors, IIMB,
media, ICICI Securities and partners)
Emailer Marketing
Outreach/ecosystem Partners- through

NSRCEL Website
Outreach- Project Announcement
Onboarding Key Mentors Creative Outreach Activities; Source: NSRCEL (2021).
FAQs- About the project- application Creative Outreach Activities; Source: NSRCEL (2021).
Fintech Start-up Incubation Project Report
Fintech Start-up Incubation Project Report
eligibility criteria and process

Fintech Friday)

Selection Process
Over 600+ expression of interests was
received
240 Applications Shortlisting using Funnel Approach
Online Pitch- Problem Statement,
Solution, Traction, Revenue Model,
600+ Enqueries Challenges, Strategic Plans, Team
received Background and Expectation from
NSRCEL (ASKS) were documented
Final Selection of 25 start-ups for
Pre-
Incubat-ion Pre-incubation stage
25 startups Communications- e-mailers, FAQs,
Forms.
Top 10 Start-ups for Incubation Stage

Project Stage: Pre Incubation

Cohort’s expectations and requirement

were listed
Delivery Model: Virtual group Sessions,
one-on-one sessions, workshop, peer
Sessions (with and without agenda and
tea-time talks in the presence of
industry experts
100+ hours mentoring session
Continuous monitoring and evaluation
from NSRCEL (IIM B) team Source:
Source: NSRCEL NSRCEL
Report, Report, 2021
2021

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Impact Assessment Study: Fintech Start-up Incubation Project

Project Timeline

Fintech Festival
Grand Finale:
One of its kind Fintech
Festival in which industry
September
experts from across India 2020
joined in discussion

Final 10 start-ups were

Incuabtion

November Incubated for 12 months

2020 Networking sessions for
start-ups

Pre-Incuabtion

Top 25 start-ups were

selected for 3 months of
pre-incubation provided June
2020
with 100+ hours of
mentoring sessions
Final Selection

NSRCEL interviewed 60+

entrepreneurs
Process

April
2020 25 start-ups shortlisted as
final participants for the
pre-incubation project

Using Funnel Approach:

Outreach

600 + application > 240 March

applications > 100 2020
applications > 60
applications were
shortlisted

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Impact Assessment Study: Fintech Start-up Incubation Project

2. 2 Alignment with Schedule VII of the Companies Act, 2013

S chedule VII (Section 135) of the Companies Act, 2013 specifies the list of activities that are
included by the company in its CSR Policy. The Fintech Start-up Incubation Project of ICICI
Securities is in complete alignment with the below-listed activities of Schedule VII:

Schedule VII Sub-Section Activities

(a) Contribution to incubators funded by Central Government or

State Government or any agency or Public Sector Undertaking of
Central Government or State Government, and
(b) Contributions to public funded Universities, Indian Institute of
Technology (IITs), National Laboratories and Autonomous Bodies
(ix) (established under the auspices of Indian Council of Agricultural
Research (ICAR), Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Council
of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Department of Atomic
Energy (DAE), Defence Research and Development Organisation
(DRDO), Department of Science and Technology (DST), Ministry of
Electronics and Information Technology engaged in conducting
research in science, technology, engineering and medicine aimed at
promoting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

2. 3 Alignment with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

T he 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in
2015, provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and
into the future.
The Fintech Start-up Incubation project implemented by ICICI Securities and NSRCEL (IIMB) broadly
caters to the needs of the Fintech ecosystem’s micro stakeholders- the start-up owners. The project
has enabled a community of innovative minds to bring innovative, quality, and affordable products
in the Fintech sector to combat the commercial struggles of rural and urban communities. Listed
below are the SDGs aligned in order of priority with the ICICI Securities’ CSR Project:3

3
https://sdgs.un.org/goals

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Impact Assessment Study: Fintech Start-up Incubation Project

Sustainable Project Specific Targets

Development Goals

Achieve higher levels of economic productivity through

diversification, technological upgrading, and innovation, including
through a focus on high value added and labor-intensive sectors
Promote development-oriented policies that support productive
activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity, and
innovation, and encourage the formalization and growth of micro-,
small- and medium-sized enterprises, including through access to
Goal 8: Promote financial services
sustained, inclusive, By 2030, achieve full and productive employment and decent work
and sustainable for all women and men, including for young people and persons
economic growth, full with disabilities, and equal pay for work of equal value
and productive By 2020, substantially reduce the proportion of youth not in
employment and employment, education, or training
decent work for all Strengthen the capacity of domestic financial institutions to
encourage and expand access to banking, insurance, and financial
services for all

Develop quality, reliable, sustainable, and resilient infrastructure,

including regional and transborder infrastructure, to support
economic development and human well-being, with a focus on
affordable and equitable access for all
Increase the access of small-scale industrial and other enterprises, in
particular in developing countries, to financial services, including
affordable credit, and their integration into value chains and
Goal 9: Industry, markets
Innovation, and By 2030, upgrade infrastructure and retrofit industries to make
Infrastructure them sustainable, with increased resource-use efficiency and
greater adoption of clean and environmentally sound technologies
and industrial processes, with all countries taking action in
accordance with their respective capabilities

By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political

inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity,
origin, religion or economic or other status

Goal 10: Reduce

inequality within and
among countries

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Impact Assessment Study: Fintech Start-up Incubation Project

Sustainable Project Specific Targets

Development Goals

Increase financial resources to conserve and sustainably use

ecosystem and biodiversity. Mobilize and significantly increase
financial resources from all sources to conserve and sustainably use
biodiversity and ecosystems

Goal 15:
Life on Land

Fully operationalize the technology bank and science, technology,

and innovation capacity-building mechanism for least developed
countries by 2017 and enhance the use of enabling technology, in
particular information and communications technology
Enhance global macroeconomic stability, including through policy
coordination and policy coherence
Multi-stakeholder Partnership: Enhance the global partnership for
Goal 17: Partnerships sustainable development, complemented by multi-stakeholder
for the Goals partnerships that mobilize and share knowledge, expertise,
technology, and financial resources, to support the achievement of
the sustainable development goals in all countries, in particular
developing countries

By 2030, ensure that all men and women, in particular the poor and
the vulnerable, have equal rights to economic resources, as well as
access to basic services, ownership and control over land and other
forms of 13 property, inheritance, natural resources, appropriate
new technology and financial services, including micro-finance

Goal 1: No Poverty

Undertake reforms to give women equal rights to economic

resources, as well as access to ownership and control over land and
other forms of property, financial services, inheritance and natural
resources, in accordance with national laws

Goal 5: Achieve
gender equality and
empower all women
and girls

Table1: SDGs aligned with the Project

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Impact Assessment Study: Fintech Start-up Incubation Project

2.4 Alignment with Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) Principles

1375+ trees saved Tech-based 100% start-ups 50% of the

through paperless solutions supported supported enabled workforce in IDOS
solutions offered minimize underserved groups consists of women
by GimBooks and contributing in to enter formal employees
IDOS reducing carbon financial system
footprint of paper

ICICI Securities’ CSR Project- Fintech Start-up Incubation Project is also aligned with the Environment
Section of the ESG Sustainability Report of the corporate. Particularly, with respect to the Business
Responsibility & Sustainability Reporting Format (BRSR) shared by the Securities & Exchange Board of
India (SEBI)4, ICICI Securities’ CSR Project can be covered under the following principles :

Principle 6
{ Businesses should respect and make efforts to
protect and restore the environment

Principle 8
{ Businesses should promote inclusive growth and
equitable development

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 Chapter 3:
Impact Assessment Design
and Approach

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Impact Assessment Study: Fintech Start-up Incubation Project

3.1 Impact Assessment Study Objectives

Objective:
To assess the impact made by Fintech Start-up Incubation Project by supporting ten Fintech
start-ups.

3.2 Sampling Strategy

The study adopted a 360-degree approach by involving the following stakeholders at different levels
as depicted in the below table:

Geography of
Stakeholders Universe Sample Size
Sample Population

Karnataka Founders/Co-Founders of 10 10
Shortlisted Ten start-ups

Senior-level employees of Based on employee 4

Delhi-NCR
three shortlisted start-ups capacity of three
shortlisted start-ups

Maharashtra Mentors of this project 8 1

Chhattisgarh IIMB faculty members

3 2
involved in this project

Telangana ICICI Securities team Based on the 1

number of team
members engaged
in the project

NSRCEL Project Team 3 3

Total 21

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Impact Assessment Study: Fintech Start-up Incubation Project

3.3 Evaluation Framework - OECD DAC

Given the objective of the study is to determine the

effectiveness, efficiency, impact created, and Did you Know?
sustainability of the project, the evaluation will use
India’s Total FinTech funding in 2021
the OECD-DAC Framework. Using the criteria of the
was $7.8 billion (excl. debt, IPOs, and
OECD DAC framework, the evaluation will be able to
corporate rounds).
assess the client’s contribution to the results while
keeping in mind the multiplicity of factors that may
Source: EY India, 2022
be affecting the overall outcome.
https://rb.gy/0ogfkj

Sustainability

Impact/ Extent to
which the net
Outcome benefits of the
intervention
continue, or are
Extent to likely to
Efficiency which the continue
intervention
has generated
or is expected
Extent to
Effectiveness which the
to generate
significant
intervention
positive or
delivers, and
negative,
how well
intended or
Extent to resources have
Coherence unintended,
which the been used
higher-level
intervention effects
achieved or is
Extent to expected to
Relevance which other achieve, its
intervention objectives
support or and its results
undermine
Extent to the
which intervention
intervention and
objectives vice-versa
and design
responds to
beneficiaries,
policies and
priorities

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Impact Assessment Study: Fintech Start-up Incubation Project

3.4 Theory of Change

Activities Output Impact

Incubation Sessions: Start-ups served 5000

MSMEs, NFBIs, Private & 100% Start-ups learnt
Covered more than 19
Government Banks, Go-to-Market (GTM)
topics and incubated top
Individuals, and firms methods
10 start-ups

100+ Hours of Direct hiring by start-ups 15 Lakh+ underserved

one-on-one mentoring in different areas of stakeholders with easy
sessions during business operations access to solutions in 11
pre-incubation stage regional languages

Utilization of fund 1155+*jobs and

Need Assessment of received from ICICI livelihood opportunities
Fintech start-ups Securities to support generated by 10
further business growth start-ups

Outreach activities to Expert mentoring 90% start-ups stayed

reach out to eligible sessions from industry Financially Steady in
Fintech start-ups for leaders of Fintech sector Pandemic
Incubation

Products made INR 19.26 Crores** total

customer-centric revenue generated by 10
start-ups after project

Start-ups learnt Access of Fintech

importance of social solutions in Tier-2 and
media platforms as a tool Tier-3 cities
of marketing

The theory of change indicates the activities, output and impact created by the project with respect to
the underlined project objectives.

* Source: NSRCEL Report, 2021

**This is an indicative number collated from the information received from 70% start-ups
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 Chapter 4:
Impact Assessment Findings

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Impact Assessment Study: Fintech Start-up Incubation Project

Overview of Impact

This chapter documents the findings of the Impact Assessment study- specifically highlighting the role
of the Fintech Startup Incubation Project. The information provided in the following sections is based
on the responses given during the online interactions with different stakeholders and are presented
through the OECD DAC framework. The broad tangible outcomes created by the project is presented
through below impact canvas:

Peer-learning helped start-ups to B2C & B2B

make startegic decisions 1155+ livelihood 5000 MSMEs supported
models of opportunities through Fintech
effectively start-ups generated by 10 solutions
enabled start-ups
80% of the top 10 founders ranked underserved
sessions on team management, sector to have Access to easy Allegiance exhibited
product road mapping and raising access to formal digital based committment to innovation
VC and other investments as most financial platforms provided and entreprenuership -
effective system to customers recognised as drivers of
economic growth

Evaluation Matrix

The evaluation matrix is an essential tool for the

assessment of impact in this study. The matrix Did you Know?
reflects major criteria designed as a part of this
impact assessment and the responses received India is going digital. In April 2022,
from the different stakeholders. It is a simple there were 1,142 million wireless
representation of all findings of the study in a subscribers in India.
precise manner for each of the top ten start-ups.
Source: TRAI, 2022
https://rb.gy/0ogfkj

As part of an ongoing debate on the absence of a common evaluation matrix for

entrepreneurship-supporting projects, it has been observed that due to the atypical nature of such
projects, it is difficult to derive a common matrix. Categorically each of such projects is unique in
characteristics, and success factors for each incubator model can differ.5

5
“ An incubator project should be focused on addressing the unique needs of
start-ups. There is no one-size-fits-all solution for start-ups.

- Professor Venkatesh Panchapagesan (Chair, NSRCEL and Associate Professor)

“
https://www.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/files/content/docs/resources/A%20White%20Paper_Metrics%20%20Milestones%20for%20Incubat
ors.pdf
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Impact Assessment Study: Fintech Start-up Incubation Project

The evaluation matrix presented below is an attempt by the team to evaluate the top 10 ventures
on various parameters. Due to the unavailability of such an existing framework, the parameters
are benchmarked by the team based on the unique objectives, design, and purpose behind the
Fintech Startup Incubation Project:

Algo Credo Gim hylo Jarvis Pay Phi Wealth

Criteria IDOS Zimyo
Fox Chain Books biz Invest matrix Commerce Easy.ai
Scope of Employment Generation and Team Strength – 320 Direct Jobs created by 10 start-ups
Team with subject
         
matter experts
Generation of
         
Direct jobs
Generation of
Indirect jobs
 -   -    - 
Potential of
Livelihood          
Generation
Financial Inclusion – 100% of start-ups were working on the lines of Financial Inclusion

(Three Dimensions of Financial Inclusion provided by RBI)6

Impacting Life
Stages of Target
Segments
(coverage of
groups like          
children, young
adults, adults in
workforce, senior
citizen, women)
Impacting
Geography with
focus on
vulnerable social
   - -  -  - 
groups in Rural
and Urban
Impacting Sector
specific focus
(Agriculture,
Manufacturing,
Skilled/Unskilled
labourers/artisans
under MSME
-     -   - 
Sector, members
of SHGs) Self
Employed/
Unorganized
sector)

Source: Reserve Bank of India Report (March 2021), ‘National Strategy for Financial Education: 2020-2025’
6

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Impact Assessment Study: Fintech Start-up Incubation Project

Product – 100% of start-ups had focussed product idea

Clear value
         
proposition
Customer focused
         
solution
Adaptive Service
         
or Product
Customer – 100% of start-ups provided innovative solutions to the customers
Relevance of the
product by the          
venture
Ease of access to
         
customers
Feedback based
         
mechanism
Focus on creating value – 100% of start-ups focussed on creating value in ESG domain
Intended and
Unintended
         
impact on Society
(S of ESG)
Intended and
Unintended
impact on          
Environment (E of
ESG)***
Intended and
Unintended
impact on
Governance - -  - - - -  - 
Structure of Start-
up (G of ESG)
Financial Uniformity – 100% of start-ups were generating value
Sustainable Source
of Capital
         -
At revenue stage
         
of venture
Withstanding Market Competition – 100% of start-ups had USP
Clear Unique
         
Selling Point
Scope of Diversification – 100% of start-ups were planning expansion
Upcoming
products and
services in pipeline
     -    

Geographical
Expansion (in
terms of office
location or service
- -     - - - 

reach)

Table 2: Evaluation Matrix

In the above evaluation matrix, the hyphen (-) indicates that the start-ups are yet to explore the areas
mentioned in the indicative parameters.

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Impact Assessment Study: Fintech Start-up Incubation Project

4.1 Effectiveness

This criterion measures the extent to which the Fintech start-up incubation project has achieved its
objectives and results. It also documents the ways in which the project has been able to achieve the
expectations of the participants, thereby paving the way to create a larger impact canvas.

100% Funds by ICICI

100% PAN
Securities were Peer-learning helped
India outreach
invested in hiring start-ups to make
conducted ,giving an
people, marketing, startegic decisions
equal opportunity
technology and effectively
for candidates to
product
apply
development by the
start-ups

4.1.1 Cohort Expectations During Launchpad Phase

The expectations of each incubate were unique. The project was tailor-made to address unique
propositions and fulfill the expectations of the cohort.

Fulfilled Expectations

AlgoFox (with PurpleTrades as its educational arm) needed AWS (Amazon Web Services) credits
which would help them to use low-cost convenient infrastructure, thereby expanding the scale of
their business operations. This was a specific expectation from the venture as told during the
interactions. AlgoFox received the added advantage of having Pre-Seed in the form of an ICICI
Securities fund (as a part of the incubation project) to attain AWS credit.

Listed below are some common expectations, as stated by all venture founders, from the Fintech
incubation project:

Access to networks and industry Market visibility

connects through Unbiased expert opinions
association with
ICICI Securities
and NSRCEL
Mentorship on Product Road (IIMB)- both big
mapping, Market Strategies and brand names in Validation from Strategic partnerships
Networking their own industry leaders within ecosystem
domain

All of the above expectations of the cohort were met. The custom-made approach followed during the
project execution allowed each start-up founder to meet their unique expectations.
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Impact Assessment Study: Fintech Start-up Incubation Project

From Idea to Reality

In the initial days of GimBooks, a top 10 venture of the incubation project had to outsource most
of its human resource operations temporarily. Post-participation in the Fintech incubation project,
they received a fund from ICICI Securities as well as extensive market visibility due to association
with brand names like ICICI Securities and NSRCEL. An immediate outcome, stated by the founder,
was market credibility, thereby increasing the number of customers. Thus, GimBooks gradually
started hiring permanent employees, creating direct high-value jobs.

“
Peer Learning- In addition to mentors, interactions
within cohorts were cited as beneficial by most of
the founders. The founder of WealthEasy.ai Learning from company of peer that have
specifically highlighted the benefits he derived great experiences in various domains was
through peer learning, stating that he gained one of the best learning mediums in the
additional insights about the Fintech domain and
market. Peer learning, according to him, added
value to the overall project takeaways.
project
“
Mukesh Chandra Anchuri,
Founder of Paymatrix

Support during the Pandemic - All the Founders that the team interacted with underlined the role of
the project as a “blessing” during COVID-19 and subsequent lockdowns. Since the pandemic impacted
the growth trajectory of many start-ups across the globe, the founders shared their struggles and
challenges within the cohort of the project. The founder of Paymatrix highlighted that apart from
receiving mentorship for relevant topics like product management, pivot strategy, and business
connections for the expansion of the venture, the project was a “breather” during the pandemic.

“ Associating with brand names like ICICI Securities and NSRCEL specially
during pandemic has validated our business models, which has been
beneficial for us. We feel that now we have created our own space in a
competitive market
- Sumit Chanda, Founder of Jarvis Invest
“
At the initiation of the project, the incubates were provided with a clear understanding of the project
objectives. This helped them to build clear expectations and set goals before receiving the funds. The
mentoring sessions conducted helped them in framing their business problem statement, assisting
them in identifying their unique space in the market. This clarity helped the ventures to deliver concrete
investment pitches or their ideas. Furthermore, the brand values of the investor VC as well as incubator
have benefitted the ventures to pave their way ahead.

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Impact Assessment Study: Fintech Start-up Incubation Project

The specific project objective of supporting the

Fintech start-ups in navigating through the
bottlenecks and helping them explore synergies in Did you Know?
terms of partnerships/collaborations - seems to India has the highest FinTech adoption
have attained positive results. Through interactions rate globally of 87%
with various stakeholders- including venture
founders, startup employees, and their customers- Source: Invest India, 2021:
the study team inferred that project sessions have https://rb.gy/dmz6ir
made the offerings from Fintech ventures more
customer-centric.
This has helped both - ventures (to expand business) as well as customers (to receive custom-made
services). Providing easy-to-use services has helped the ventures to attract more customers, while the
customers have been able to utilize their time and wealth effects in the expansion of their small and
medium-sized businesses. This interdependent relationship has resulted in creating numerous indirect
jobs - from the ventures as well as their customers.

“ Prior to the project, we focused more on technology and thus marketing was
neglected in our strategy. But with exposure to relevant and new forms of
marketing strategies, we felt the need to focus on this aspect also. Thus, post
participation in the project, our venture got actively involved on social
media platforms
“
- Jose Thattil, Founder of PhiCommerce

We have understood As reported by the founders of the 10 selected

through the project that over ventures, the project has succeeded in providing
valuation is also a problem. meaningful proposition to their venture. Ventures
Hence, we have limited our like Jarvis Invest were at a no-revenue stage while
business spending to entering the project. Through project learning and
guidance, the venture founder later evaluated his
maintain financial stability of services by monetizing them, leading to high
the company revenue growth.

- Jose Thattil, Founder of

PhiCommerce

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Impact Assessment Study: Fintech Start-up Incubation Project

Implementing Learnings

Pattern Effects Labs had multiple products and offerings before participating in this project. Their
specific product, “WealthEasy.ai'' was completely supported by the Fintech Startup Incubation
project. The fund received from ICICI Securities was utilized in building and growing WealthEasy.ai
only. This was a strategic decision taken by the founder with the guidance of mentors of the
project. The inputs provided by Mrs. Malavika, a mentor in the project, helped them in branding
and marketing the Fintech product. Prof. Venkatesh, another mentor, guided them in formalizing
funds. Thus, knowledge and guidance from the sessions with mentors resulted in major strategic
decisions for the company, impacting them positively.

During the interactions, the majority of the founders stated that they gained in-depth knowledge as
well as support specifically in the areas of branding, networking, and fund management. These
learnings have proved to be important for the immediate growth of their venture. The acquired
knowledge will continue to enable these founders in expanding their business in the near future,
creating a long-term impact that eventually affects the Fintech domain at large.

Listed below are common key learnings, as reported by the incubates, during our interactions:

Significance of sales,
networking, and marketing Ideas for building and Importance of clear value
to get an inbound scaling of business across proposition to attract
networking for the business India investors
growth

4.1.2 Encouragement and Support to Entrepreneurship Culture

This section covers the two-folded impact of the project in fostering entrepreneurship :

Project fostered entrepreneurship

by directly supporting and validating
innovative ideas of start-ups.

Enabled top10 ventures

further ignited the cycle of
entrepreneurship acting as role
models within their communities

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Impact Assessment Study: Fintech Start-up Incubation Project

Exponential Growth

AlgoFox, through its educational arm PurpleTrades, has now attained a name in the Fintech
market due to its exponentially growing customer base. The expanding customer base in retail
sector is using AlgoFox as a trading platform for retail traders and investors. The venture is also
increasingly used as financial literacy tool by investors, specifically in trading.

“ We have been educating young individuals about trading since 2015. In the
long run, some of these knowledgeable individuals have started their own
start-ups and are earning good profits. We are encouraged to see the impact
of financial literacy services in fostering entrepreneurship among youth.

- Kushal Jain, Founder of AlgoFox

“
This chain reaction of impact, a direct result of
numerous mentorship sessions, access to closed
networks, and funding support through incubation Did you Know?
funds’ is further helping individuals make profits by
India saw 63% jump in active demat
operationalizing their business models. Start-ups
accounts to 89.7 million in FY22
like GimBooks, CredoChain, hylobiz, IDOS,
Paymatrix, Zimyo, and PhiCommerce, with their
Source: EY India, 2022
customer-centric unique products, continue to
https://rb.gy/0ogfkj
support 5000 MSMEs by providing easy digital
platform services. A variety of these financial
products, specifically cater to small and marginal
business owners who can now access loans, easily
file GST returns, and generate e-invoices. Thus, the
ventures participating in the incubation project
have been successful in expanding the realm of Such easy services give
providing financial services to small and marginal confidence to MSME owners. In
businesses. return a trusted bond is
developed with these owners
which continues to build
stronger ecosystem and create
more potential for synergies

- Yash Raj Agrawal, Founder of

GimBooks

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Impact Assessment Study: Fintech Start-up Incubation Project

As shared by most founders, the project has helped foster entrepreneurship in unique ways.

“ Our refined pitches and brand names of ICICI Securities and NSRCEL (IIMB)
brought credibility to our products. This in turn helped us get more clients
thus the current growth is a result of participation in the project.

- Jose Thattil, Founder of PhiCommerce

“
4.1.3 User base and Customer-Benefits
The project has played a key role in solving finance-related issues of marginalized rural and urban
communities by supporting the Fintech start-ups. Through cutting-edge technology solutions of the
supported start-ups, a large population is now able to use digital solutions cost-effectively. The
start-ups have acted as a bridge between different stakeholders of the Fintech value chain through
their innovative solutions.

Triumphing from Ground Zero

Prior to the project, AlgoFox was at early-stage

generating zero revenue. Through its beta
version, it has been providing access to its
algotrading platform free of cost. However, by
utilization of the fund AlgoFox could develop an
advanced version of its platform and now has a
customer base of 35,000 active paid customers.
“The project has really helped in
understanding the pain points of
my start-up and provided with
suggestions from the experts to
overcome them. One of the most
important take-away from the
Additionally, the venture provides financial project was to make product
literacy to its customers in trading through its
customer-friendly. This
B2C model. The project motivated the start-up
founders to merge AlgoFox (their SaaS platform) take-away encouraged us to give
with PurpleTrades (their education arm) to importance to
provide B2B and B2C services. After the customer-feedback while
completion of the project, AlgoFox could also
developing and growing our
find another profit-making idea of white
labeling. At present, AlgoFox has sold its products. Now our customer is
products to 65 customers, which has helped happy and we to are able to
them gain more profits and active users. compete with our market
competitors effectively
“
- Kushal Jain, Founder of AlgoFox

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Impact Assessment Study: Fintech Start-up Incubation Project

Reaching the Last Mile

After the completion of the project, GimBooks developed products and helped the population
from Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities to avail their services of digital billing, GST-filling, and invoice solutions.
GimBooks customer largely involves middlemen, traders, and MSMEs who are now able to handle

“
their business without any hustle. Recently, GimBooks has partnered with three major banks and
is in conversations with two more banks as their target customers. Thus, a great growth trajectory
can be witnessed in the case of GimBooks with an enormous scope of expansion in business
model-wise and target customer base.

“
In our initial days we made attempts to reach out to big
players of Fintech ecosystem. In our experience it is a
time-consuming and tedious process. However, after entering
the project we got great networking opportunities with some
major players of the Fintech ecosystem. We later leveraged
this networking to connect with banks at a faster-pace and
now we are succeeding in our endeavor to work with them
because of this incubation project

- Yash Raj Agrawal, Founder of GimBooks

Listed below are other details of customer-base and benefits provided by different start-ups:

Wealteasy.ai
Grew customer base of 16,000+ through its B2C model post completion
of the project
01

Zimyo
02 Currently has 2.5 lakhs customers

03
Wealteasy.ai
Currently at 1,25,000 active customer-base

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Impact Assessment Study: Fintech Start-up Incubation Project

4.2 Relevance

80% of the top 10

100% Start-ups founders ranked
sessions on team Access of
learnt use of management, Ease of business
product road for 5000 MSMEs Fintech
Go-to-Market mapping and raising
VC and other solutions in
(GTM) methods
investments as most
relevant

4.2.1 Innovation Supported

The project set off with the motive of supporting innovative solutions in the domain of Fintech. The
objective was achieved by reaching out to different players in the Fintech ecosystem and carefully
curating the project elements to fulfill the needs of the hand-picked 10 innovative start-ups of India.

Listed below are the unique ideas supported through this project:

Name of Start-up Uniqueness

Helping retail traders through its automation tools

Bridging the gap between a trader and desired broker smooth
trading experience

Making GST filings, billings, and overall inventory, expenses, and

ledgers digital
Helping middlemen and traders seamlessly manage their finances
Services available in 11 regional languages
Serving the tier-2 and tier-3 population as well

AI-based market research and fund management platform

Customer can receive domestic and international market insights
with customized portfolios for investment

Provides advisory service

Makes stock investing affordable for individuals

Enables individuals to pay merchants even if they do not have a

Point-of-Sale terminal
Allowing money borrowing on current credit card (or digital
overdraft) for unforeseen purchases or during times of financial
stress
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Impact Assessment Study: Fintech Start-up Incubation Project

Single payment gateway that processes both online & offline

payments
Built on the need to consolidate the payments by the customers
under one ambit
Recently partnered with Bangalore International Airport Limited
(BIAL) to provide a one-stop payment solution to customers

Platform that uses data analytics to meet the intricate needs of

MSME lending
Consumes digital inputs like bureau analytics and credit in the same
software helping customers to obtain the most suitable and
inexpensive loan that is customized to their business and cash flow
requirements

Provides powerful and simplified tools for automating payment

reminders, automatically reconciling accounts receivable, and
quickly tracking invoice collections

Enable easy management of accounting, taxation, and financial

processes
Empowers with data and curated reports for decision-making and
analytics

For companies to manage their human resources on one common

platform
Services like timesheets, employee management, payroll, employee
performance management, employee benefits management,
engagement, and recruitment can be all managed under one
umbrella platform

Table 3 : Unique ideas supported by the project

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Impact Assessment Study: Fintech Start-up Incubation Project

4.2.2 Relevance of Incubation Sessions

This section gives an overall picture of the session-wise performance of the incubation project.

90% start-up founders except for hylobiz have agreed that the quality of the overall project and
knowledge of mentors has been appreciable. 80% start-up founders agreed that the project helped
them to build confidence and 100% appreciated the overall quality of project and knowledge of the
mentors. Topics like Sales and Branding and Finance Aspects of Business Planning have been rated as
“Good” (on a rating scale of “Good, Average and Poor”) by 70%. The sessions which the 10 founders felt
to be most pertinent are shown in the table below:

Name of Venture Session Topics

AlgoFox Sales and Branding

CredoChain Business Building
Team Management
GimBooks Product Road mapping
Strategies for raising VC investments
hylobiz Compliances, Regulations and Regulatory Frameworks of Business
Avenues of raising different types of investments

IDOS Handling finances for business growth

Importance of social media in branding

Jarvis Invest Strategies of raising investments through different means

Use of partnership model as stable source of capital

Paymatrix Partner and Customer Management in Business

Team building and management strategies

PhiCommerce Profit making through partnership model

Importance of conducting Need analysis of a product

WealthEasy.ai Finance Aspects of Business Planning

Zimyo All aspects of the project from need assessment, product road
mapping to raising funds through VC investments

Table 4 : List of session topics rated most relevant by start-ups

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Impact Assessment Study: Fintech Start-up Incubation Project

4.3 Impact- Project Outcome

This criterion measures the extent to which the Fintech start-up incubation project has generated
significant positive and negative, intended, or unintended, higher-level effects. Listed below are the key
findings:

5 out of 10
100% start-ups 100% start-ups 42% increase in start-ups use
used B2C & B2B ICICI
resolved jobs and AI/ML as part of
models to Securities
problem of livelihood their daily
enable access to access to finance opportunities processes post
digital solutions created project
completion

Financial Inclusion driven by serving the underserved stakeholders through access to solutions in 11
regional languages, financial literacy for better adoption
6 out of 10 start-ups had provided services to underserved market
Allegiance exhibited commitment to innovation and entrepreneurship- recognised as drivers of
economic growth
Innovative technology based solutions used by small business owners thereby increased savings,
promoting paperless transactions
Funds support enabled continuity in business operations of ventures, impacting multiple stakeholders
Business model validation led to scaling up operations at Bharat and Global level
Providing solutions to social problems enabled social impact at large scale

Did you Know?

Only 27% of Indians are financially literate.

Source: SEBI,2020
https://rb.gy/huu4ds

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Impact Assessment Study: Fintech Start-up Incubation Project

4.3.1 Financial Inclusion

The project has been successful in providing funds to start-ups with a vision of financial inclusion.

PhiCommerce

Digitally enabled thousands of Bharat citizens to do their first digital payment transaction

AlgoFox

Financial education on trading and stock markets for retailers/traders

Provide automated, simple and accessible solutions to make trading smooth and profitable
Twin objectives of knowledge enhancement and easy-to-use trading applications, empowering
retailers and traders across the country

GimBooks

Enabling MSME owners to receive the benefits of accounting and business management
solutions at affordable rates.
Beta version is free for all customers, promoting adoption of digital financial services
Application services available in 11 regional languages, paving way for inclusion of often
neglected small and marginal business owners who are vary of english langauage

WealthEasy.ai

Main target customer is women, especially homemakers who generally lack channels of
investment
B2C solutions encourage women to undertake trading operations from the comfort of their
homes
For a brief time, conducted financial education sessions to increase awareness and knowledge
about trading, thereby spreading financial literacy

A common pattern that is exemplified in all the above examples is serving the underserved
stakeholders that are often neglected by prime financial service providers. During the study
interaction, GimBooks Founder (Mr. Yash Raj Agrawal) said he spends time with people in rural areas
of Chhattisgarh. He thinks of this as an opportunity to interact with prospective future entrepreneurs.
Such actions have the potential to inspire several innovators residing in tier 2 cities of the country,
promoting entrepreneurship in Bharat as well. The ICICI Securities project encouraged and
validated business models of the ventures who, by design and choice, are targeting customers
who are often overlooked by leading financial services. In the long term, access to a range of
useful and affordable financial products and services will play a significant role in building
financial resilience in individuals and small business owners.

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Impact Assessment Study: Fintech Start-up Incubation Project

“ We started providing our financial services to home makers in the city of

Bangalore. This was a strategic decision, at that point, as traditionally home
makers are underserved in the Fintech domain. Our first 1000-1500 users
were mostly women, so we organized financial literacy classes for them,
before the pandemic hit.
- Shiv, Founder of WealthEasy.ai
“
The ICICI Securities project enabled these ventures
as growth builders to drive partnerships for scaling
up. The mentorship sessions facilitated ventures in
Did you Know?
defining challenges and assessing an iterative Unified Payments Interface (UPI)
approach to scale up through proven products and rails, positive regulatory frameworks
collaborations. This process helped minimize risks and the pandemic has aided
and losses, thereby turning connections into acceleration in digital adoption in
commercial outputs. In the long run, such India.
scaling-up opportunities transform financial
services for good, thereby creating meaningful Source: TRAI, 2022
impact – all of which commenced during the ICICI https://rb.gy/0ogfkj
Securities incubation project.

The cohort has successfully been able to establish their place in both Bharat (including tier 2 and tier 3
cities) as well as in international market. This indicates risk-taking ability, vision and strategic planning
executed by the ventures.

Through this project, ICICI Securities has successfully got various players across the Fintech domain at
a common platform so that they understand different perspectives. The project was successful in
creating a bridge to developing confidence in business strategies through mentorship.

Filling the Gaps in Access to Technology

GimBooks provides easy-to-use Invoice Manager services through a mobile application. Their
solution is to make financial services from paper-intensive to digital transactions- making them
effortless and environment-friendly. The application is targeted to aid small businesses running
across the country and decrease their dependence on professional accountants known to charge
exorbitantly.

However, as informed by a GimBooks customer, the app (in its current form) cannot replace the
continuous advice provided by a professional accountant. Suggestions by these professionals,
especially with respect to cost-cutting and legislative management are valued by small
businesses. Thus, they act as a bridge between government authorities and the business owner
and are considered irreplaceable.

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Impact Assessment Study: Fintech Start-up Incubation Project

“
Minor savings for numerous small business owners
across the country create a large impact on the
economic growth of the nation. Thus, Fintech GimBooks has made invoice management
solutions for SMEs indirectly contribute to the simple and uncomplicated. It has reduced
overall growth of the nation. my paperwork and helps me in providing
invoices at a faster rate. The overall
Support during the pandemic - Pandemic and bookkeeping experience through the app is
subsequent lockdowns are identified as major hassle-free and has reduced my
drivers to maximize the use of UPI and Fintech dependence on the professional
services. When both customers and manufacturers accountant. I can save small amounts of
could not interact in person, rate of fostering a solid capital by using Fintech solutions, which
business-client relationship took extra effort. Lack now is reflected as profit in my accounting
of synchronous communication across teams
reduced productivity, ultimately affecting the
book
“
business’s bottom line. Yet, during these difficult - Customer of GimBooks
times, Fintech solutions kept the boat floating.

“ During pandemic, GimBooks invoice management solutions helped me the

most. I am a bottle manufacturer, and my business falls under crucial
services, during lockdown. Thus, my business was running at full capacity in
Roorkee. Since I live in Delhi, it was not possible for me to travel to the
factory location, even to generate required bills and invoices. Without these
documents, I wouldn’t have received any payments and further pay my staff
also. During these tough times, e-billing services of GimBooks provided relief
to our business operations. Since then, I have become a regular user of the
Fintech services as they ease invoice generation.
“
- Customer of GimBooks

Through the incubation project, ICICI Securities provided funds to Fintechs. These contributions during
one of the most challenging times, benefitted multiple stakeholders in the market like customers,
manufacturers, laborers, and 5000 MSMEs to sustain. The funds were mostly utilized to keep the
ventures running so that they continue to provide paperless, easy, efficient, and innovative services to
their clients.

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Impact Assessment Study: Fintech Start-up Incubation Project

4.3.2 Social Impact

Fintech ventures are identified for their commitment to social change through the customer service
they provide to their users. The top 10 ventures of the incubation project have been successful in
debunking the myth that for-profit financial organizations cannot have a social impact as their primary
objective. Through the study interactions, the team found that these ventures had positive impacts -
intended and unintended on society. The ventures are solving specific problems and challenges faced
by society at large through various strategies, including access, financial literacy, and innovative
products.

IDOS Paymatrix

Provides access to formal credit sources B2C & B2B model to enable access to formal
MSMEs through a base platform sources of rental payments and credit card
usage
Digital empowerment of small & marginal
business owners Solves the problem of access to finance,
especially during short notice period

“ Rentals consist of 20-30% of any household’s monthly budget. We target homemakers and
MSMEs by offering solution to their problems of rental payments and credit usage for their
working capitals.
“
- Mukesh Chandra Anchuri, Founder Paymatrix

Reaching New Heights

PhiCommerce is working indirectly with MSMEs through its partnership with corporate agencies.
With their partnership with HP, they are working with LPG gas dealers across the country. LPG
dealers from remote villages are now able to pay for gas through an Aadhar-based paying
platform. In remote areas where access to ATMs is difficult, gas dealers can now make transactions
with just one click. By bringing this digital transformation, the venture ensures access to cooking
fuel to households even when in-hand cash is not available This initiative, indirectly, will play a
significant role in reducing the dependence on fuelwood in remote areas.

The venture, in another partnership with Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL), is enabling
thousands of individuals daily to make hustle-free payments. Such seamless transactions can
increase efficiency and driving higher revenues in the near future.

The top ten start-ups supported by ICICI Securities are continuously bringing unique solutions for their
customers - in rural and urban settings. The support through the incubation project, especially in their
early days, is valued by the founders. Their participation in the project has validated their ideas of
addressing social issues while still making a profit.

39
Impact Assessment Study: Fintech Start-up Incubation Project

4.4 Efficiency

This criterion measures the extent to which the Fintech Start-up Project delivered its objectives. This
also documents the utilization of resources during the entire course of the project implementation.

Utilization of
1155+ jobs and Funds: Marketing INR 19.26 Crores
livelihood strategies, Tech Hiring, total revenue
opportunities Customer acquisition generated by 10
generated and Product start-ups after
building project

In 11 regional
5000 MSMEs languages, the Fintech
supported through solutions are made
Fintech solutions available by Gimbooks
available fostering
digital inclusion

4.4.1 Job and Livelihood Opportunities Generated

The incubation project facilitated the formation of job creators rather than job seekers in the Fintech
market. This was done by equipping start-ups with knowledge and resources to grow in the domain of
Fintech. The guidance and support throughout the incubation project helped ventures build their
team and hire tech talent. This resulted in start-ups providing 1155+ jobs and livelihood opportunities
while being incubated by IIM B in the buckets of:

Software
Developing

Sales & Human

Marketing Resource
Total 1155+
jobs and
livelihood
opportunities
generated

Operations Finance

Product
Management

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Impact Assessment Study: Fintech Start-up Incubation Project

42% increase in jobs and livelihood opportunities created by the 10 start-ups one year after the project
completion

Jobs and Livelihood Opportunities Generated

The hiring of new staff serves as an
After Before indicator of sustainable growth in
these start-ups. The professionals
Zimyo (2018) 30
100
hired can bring structure and
WealthEasy.ai (2018) 5
30
stability to different business
PhiCommerce (2016) 20
80
operations. GimBooks is able to
30
Paymatrix (2016) 5 structure its organization
30
JarvisInvest (2016) 5 effectively, which is a direct result of
IDOS (2014) 8
25
hiring trained HR professionals.
hylobiz (2018) 10
78
Another example is of
GimBooks (2018) 14
30
PhiCommerce and IDOS. These two
7
CredoChain (2019) 4 start-ups are focusing on hiring
16
AlgoFox (2016) 4 women workforce in different work
operations to bring gender-equality
Fig.3 Comparison of jobs and livelihood opportunities in the Fintech space.
generated before and after the project

“
I have observed that more than 50% of the
workforce in IDOS consists of women.
IDOS in true sense has been able to hire
more women staff and contribute in
‘bringing women back to the workforce’
Did you Know?
In India 22% lesser jobs were created in
pandemic (FY2020) as compared to FY
2019.

Source: CSO (2021)

https://rb.gy/rbu8fu
initiative”

-Employee of IDOS India Pvt Ltd.

“ Did you Know?
In 2020-2021 alone, about 1.7 million
jobs were created by recognized
start-ups.

Source: Outlook, 2022

https://rb.gy/tj74ix
Product
Management

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Impact Assessment Study: Fintech Start-up Incubation Project

Job and livelihood opportunities have also been generated by the supported start-ups in following
unique ways:

Provide Trainees started their own

AlgoFox trainings on ventures & hired staff or became
algo-trading consultants

Through Benefit partners leading to

GimBooks and Partner- their growth and investments
Jarvis Invest Model in hiring

WealthEasy.ai By grooming Prepare them for future job

interns placement in Fintech

By supporting Profit generation in MSMEs and

Other Start-ups NGOs, leading to job creation
MSMEs and NGOs

4.4.2 Social Media Outreach

During the initial phases of the project, an intensive exercise of outreach activities was conducted to
onboard eligible start-up founders in this project. Fintech start-up founders were reached on
professional platforms and through internal connections by the NSRCEL team to gain insights about
the problems and challenges faced by them. Five criteria basis which the top ten Fintech start-ups were
selected are as follows:

Relevance or Business Founders

Scope of Solution fit model Traction
or Value and teams
Problem Potential records
ability

As part of the outreach activity 46 media articles

and a newsletter were published throughout the
stages of incubation project. The project ended
with one of its kind Fintech Festival in which
industry experts from across India joined in Did you Know?
discussion. The festival acted as an effective social In 2020-2021 alone, about 1.7 million
advocacy event for stakeholders of Fintech jobs were created by recognized
industry. Around 1,36,000 people were reached start-ups.
on Twitter, 29,000 viewers on Fintech Events and
36,000 people through Facebook. Press releases Source: Outlook, 2022
and media mentions in platforms like Times of https://rb.gy/tj74ix
India, Daily Hunt, Zee Business, Yahoo Finance,
and others were made about the Fintech
incubation project.
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 Impact Assessment Study: Fintech Start-up Incubation Project

As a result, retweets were received from well-known organizations like Start-up Karnataka, Blume
Ventures, J&K Start-ups Association, Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, iSpirit, and others. Both
ICICI Securities and NSRCEL IIMB teams worked together to find the right talent for incubation.7

These outreach activities indirectly benefited the start-ups with increased market visibility. The start-up
founders, thereby realizing the importance of social media platforms started making their accounts.

4.4.3 Fund Utilization

Through interaction with founders of the top ten start-ups, information on the utilization of the fund
was received. Listed are the areas in which fund was utilized by the start-ups:

Development
Employee Building and Customer
and execution Traction
Tech-hiring improvising acquisition
retention of marketing records
products
strategies

4.4.4 Total Revenue Generated by Start-ups

95 Crore cumulative capital was raised by 10 start-ups during the incubation stage of the project. Later
a total revenue of more than INR 19.26 Crores was generated by the top 10 selected start-ups post the
completion of the project in 2021. This figure is attained through interactions with founders of the top
ten start-ups.

Comparison of Revenue Generated Pre and Post

Incubation Project
45
While the founders of 70% start-ups
Revenue per Month (in Lacs)

42
40
35
provided the ballpark figure of their
30
30 27 revenue during the interactions;
25 23 however, the remaining 30%
20
16
start-ups (Paymatrix, PhiCommerce,
15
10 13 10 and WealthEasy.ai) did not share
10 8 8
5 3 such details in order to maintain
0
confidentiality.
AlgoFox

CredoChain

GimBooks

hylobiz

IDOS

JarvisInvest

Zimyo

Paymatrix

PhiCommerce

WealthEasy.ai

Name of Start-ups

Revenue Before Program Revenue After Program

Fig.2 Comparison of revenue generated pre

and post Incubation Project

NSRCEL Report, 2021

7
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Impact Assessment Study: Fintech Start-up Incubation Project

Augmenting Value

The Incubation project started in March 2020 during the onset of a global pandemic. The
pandemic forced a large population to explore and enter trading. AlgoFox, with the help of the
Incubation project, could release its beta version of services for free. This beta version gained the
attention of new traders. In the mid-covid phase, when AlgoFox launched their refined paid
version of the platform, their business started generating revenue for the first time. Hence, the
fund by ICICI Securities helped AlgoFox to enter the market at the most favorable time, and till now
it has been attracting customers at a high pace.

The significance of this incubation project during the pandemic has been highlighted by many other
founders. The start-ups like CredoChain, Jarvix Invest, and hylobiz generated zero to negligible revenue
prior to the receipt of the fund (as depicted in Fig.4), and in the case of Zimyo, the revenue almost
doubled after the incubation project. The finding represents the direct impact of the project on the
economic progress of the start-ups when the global market was hit due to the pandemic.

4.5 Coherence

This criterion measures the extent to which other interventions, particularly the state and the local
policies, support or undermine the Fintech start-up Incubation Project and vice versa.

Alignment of PhiCommerce AlgoFox is

project with Govt. partnered with contributing to the
key projects: AIM, ICICI
Bangalore economic growth by
Digital India, Securities
International Airport selling their
Start-up Limited (BAIL) and products as “White
India,Make in Kotak Mahindra Labels”
India etc. Bank

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Impact Assessment Study: Fintech Start-up Incubation Project

4.5.1 Alignment of Project to National Priority Initiatives

Government Initiatives

Start-up India Initiative

Make in India
Atal Innovation Mission (AIM)
Digital India
Incubation scheme
National initiative for developing and harnessing innovations promotion and acceleration of
young and aspiring technology entrepreneurs (NIDHI-PRAYAS)
National initiative for developing and harnessing innovations seed support system (NIDHI-SSS)
Support for entrepreneurial and managerial development of MSMEs through incubators

National initiative for developing and harnessing innovations technology business incubator
(NIDHI-TBI)
Technology incubation and development of entrepreneurs (TIDE) scheme

4.5.2 Coherence in Fintech Start-up Incubation Project

Strategic partnerships and coherence can provide a path to fully capitalize on the growth potential of
digital transformation facing their respective industries. As the number of people around the world
who are digitally connected and engaged increases, there are more and more potential customers to
be served and empowered.

Below is an illustration derived through interactions with various stakeholders and analysis of perceived
advantages of coherence in the Fintech industry:

Partnership with Substituting and refining of Innovative and Collaborative

Government authorities. established financial Practices
products and services.
Promoting Public Private Growth & Sustainability of
Partnership (PPP) Incorporating products and Fintech Start-ups
services through
Tailoring financial products collaborative models
for unbanked
people Bottom-up trust building
through empowerment of
Leveraging customer base of Fintech enablers and
Fintech solutions like UPI customers

Policy framework for

incentivising, teech
education. entrepreneurial &
Investment activities

Fig.4 Perceived benefits of coherence by the stakeholders of Fintech industry

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Impact Assessment Study: Fintech Start-up Incubation Project

Partnership Leading to Ease for Masses

One such example of Coherence can be of PhiCommerce. With an understanding of topics like
market visibility, mentorship through the project, knowledge of compliance and legal issues,
along with understanding of the importance of networking through the project- PhiCommerce
could convert its learnings into action by partnering with Bangalore International Airport Limited
(BAIL). Through this partnership, a one-stop payment solution has been designed specifically for
the airport bringing ease to customers. With this ease, customer participation is expected to
increase, hence resulting in the growth of the overall economy8.

4.6 Sustainability

This criterion measures the extent to which net benefits of the Fintech Start-up Incubation Project shall
continue or are likely to continue.

The project is in 100% alignment with the below mentioned UNSDGs:

Sustainable Development Goals

Listed below are indicative achievements of 10 supported start-ups depicting their ongoing
growth and future scope of growth:

Diversification of Revenue Resource Optimisation Better Management of

Customer

Start-ups are expanding to Start-ups are investing in Start-ups have more than 3
global market hiring staff members for lakh customer base
structuring their cumulatively (including
operations 5000 MSMEs and retail
sector)
90% start-ups are
financially steady

8
Source: Economic Times (2022, May 12), ‘BIAL partners with PhiCommerce to facilitate one-stop payment solution’
46
Impact Assessment Study: Fintech Start-up Incubation Project

Resource optimisation: Throughout the interactions, venture founders expressed content as most of
their expectations were fulfilled during the project. 90% ventures that were the recipients of the fund
are now financially steady. All the ventures, post participation in the project have gained visibility in
Fintech spaces across India. This, in addition to a better pitching strategy, has allowed the ventures to
attract investments for aiding business growth.

“ The project mentors introduced us to banks and corporates during our

participation. Currently, we are working with some of them while
negotiating with another few. The project provided us access to these bank
networks, providing an opportunity for business expansion

- Yash Raj Agrawal, Founder of Gimbooks

“
The fund from ICICI Securities as a part of the incubation project, helped the founders to stay afloat
during the tough times. This unintended impact of the fund was at the time when global companies
were laying off employees while the startups were securing livelihoods of direct and indirect employees
associated with them. The founder of GimBooks revealed that they were able to retain their employees
with the help of an ICICI Securities fund provided as a part of incubation support. During the study
interactions 90% founders reported employee retention even during the pandemic.

The start-ups listed below have committed to environmental sustainability by rendering paperless
Fintech solutions to a large population of people.

GimBooks IDOS hylobiz WealthEasy.ai CredoChain

Hence, all start-ups through their tech-based

solutions minimize the use of paper and thus Use of too much paper is both
reduce the carbon footprint of paper production. hazardous for the environment
and is a costly resource. We have
made an attempt to automate
manual work, including all
analysis. Our system was
designed keeping in mind that
extensive data can be fetched
and analyzed digitally providing
a large volume of data insights
thereby minimizing use of paper

Vaibhav Anand, Founder of CredoChain

47
 Chapter 5:
Conclusion and
Recommendations

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Impact Assessment Study: Fintech Start-up Incubation Project

Recommendations for Project Design and Components

Incorporation of feedback systems: Immediately after the completion of a session feedback can be
taken from the participants which can help in uniform monitoring and evaluation of the project.

Environment Social Governance (ESG): Topics related to ESG legislation and reporting can be added
in the incubation phase to equip start-ups with the knowledge of the same at a very nascent stage.

Acknowledgement

We express our gratitude to ICICI Securities for the opportunity to conduct the Impact Assessment for
Fintech Start-up Incubation Project, a CSR project of the Company.

We are grateful for the support from Nadathur S. Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning, Indian
Institute of Management Bangalore (NSRCEL, IIMB) team during the course of this Impact Assessment.
Lastly, we are thankful to all founders of the selected ten start-ups for their cooperation and time. We
appreciate the valuable insights shared by each stakeholder of this project and would like to thank
them all for the support.

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Impact Assessment Study: Fintech Start-up Incubation Project

Abbreviations
Abbreviations Full Forms
AI Artificial Intelligence
AIM Atal innovation mission
ATMs Automated teller machines
AWS Amazon Web Services
BIAL Bangalore International Airport Ltd
BNPL Buy Now Pay Later model
B2C Business-to-Consumer
B2B Business-to- Business
CSR Corporate Social Responsibility
CSO Central Statistics Office (CSO)
CSIR Council of Scientific and Industrial Research
DAE Department of Atomic Energy
DRDO Defence Research and Development Organisation
DST Department of Science and Technology
ESG Environmental, social, and governance
EY Ernst & Young
FY Financial Year
GST Goods and Service Tax
GTM Go-To-Market
HP Hindustan Petroleum
HR Human Resource
ICAR Indian Council of Agricultural Research
ICMR Indian Council of Medical Research
IIMB Indian Institute of Management Bangalore
IITs Indian Institute of Technology
LPG Liquefied Petroleum Gas
MSME Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises
ML Machine Learning
NGOs Non-governmental organization
NIDHI-PRAYAS National initiative for developing and harnessing innovations
promotion and acceleration of young and aspiring technology
entrepreneurs
NIDHI-TBI National initiative for developing and harnessing innovations
technology business incubator
NIDHI-SSS National initiative for developing and harnessing innovations seed
support system
NSRCEL Nadathur S. Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning
OECD-DAC Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development-
Development Assistance Committee
PPP Public-Private Partnership
SaaS Software as a Service
SDGs Sustainable Development Goals
TBIs Technology Business Incubators
TIDE Technology incubation and development of entrepreneurs scheme
UT Union Territories

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Impact Assessment Study: Fintech Start-up Incubation Project

List of Figures and Tables

List of Figures

Figure1. Fintech start-up Incubation Project stakeholders

Figure2. Comparison of revenue generated pre and post Incubation Project
Figure3. Comparison of jobs and livelihood opportunities generated before and after the project
Figure4. Perceived benefits of coherence by the stakeholders of Fintech industry

List of Tables

Table 1: SDGs aligned with the project

Table 2: Evaluation Matrix
Table 3: Unique ideas supported by the project
Table 4: List of session topics rated most relevant by start-ups

List of 25 Selected Start-ups for Pre-incubation

Sr. No. Names of Start-ups
1 Wellmo
2 Tradebeat
3 WhatsLoan
4 WIMWISURE
5 AlgoFox
6 CredoChain
7 Zimyo
8 Mudra Circle
9 MinksPay
10 7Prosper
11 GimBooks
12 Paperking
13 Jarvis
14 IDOS India
15 Paymatrix
16 Capital Quotient
17 MunshiG
18 PhiCommerce
19 Wealtheasy.ai
20 Zobaze
21 Zopnote
22 KhaaliJeb
23 NearPe
24 Docboyz
25 Hylobiz
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Impact Assessment Study: Fintech Start-up Incubation Project

Disclaimer
This report has been prepared pursuant to the Companies (Corporate Social Responsibility Policy)
Amendment Rules, 2021, notification dated 22nd January 2021, by Renalysis Consultants Pvt. Ltd.
(CSRBOX). This Impact Assessment Study report is prepared for the Fintech Start-up Incubation Project
in which NSRCEL, IIMB (Nadathur S. Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning, Indian Institute of
Management Bangalore) played role of the incubation agency.

This report contains an analysis by CSRBOX considering the publications available from secondary
sources and primary data gathered through interactions with the leadership team of ICICI Securities,
project beneficiaries, and implementation partner.

The premise of the impact assessment is to meet the regulatory requirements set out by Ministry of
Corporate Affairs (MCA), Government of India.

52
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