The Third Cohort of a Women-Focused Fintech Program is Launched by RBIH and IIMA Ventures

Nitin Konde, Varun Bhardwaj

Jan 10, 2025 — 2 min read

Women-Centric Fintech Program: RBIH and IIMA Ventures Unveil Third Cohort

The third cohort of India's women-focused fintech program was jointly launched by the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH) and IIMA Ventures. Fintech innovators can use SwanariTM TechSprint 3.0 as a platform to design, create, and scale solutions that cater to the particular financial needs of women. According to Aakarsh Naidu, head of fintech and startups at the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub, the cohort seeks to amplify effective solutions that not only improve women's financial inclusion but also propel their economic empowerment by encouraging innovation and empowering fintech firms.

Through financing awards, professional mentoring, and other support, the initiative gives companies the chance to develop, improve, and scale their gender-inclusive financial solutions. Applications from entrepreneurs offering gender-focused financial solutions are presently being accepted into the program. In addition to having pre-seed to pre-Series A funding or quantifiable traction, eligible entrants must have a minimal viable product.

Collaboration Aims to Strengthen Fintech Startups

RBIH and IIMA Ventures are working together to support fintech companies in their efforts to develop solutions that will support women's financial inclusion in India. 556 million women are intended to be impacted by the initiative. Startups like Kaleidofin, Merakal, Vitto, Anniyam Payment, MaksPay, and Manipal Business Solution are among the previous program winners. The fintech industry has seen numerous advancements in recent years. For example, digital payment aggregator PayU and Amazon Web Services (AWS) introduced inFINity 2.0, a fintech-focused accelerator program for early-stage Indian startups, in December.

Other Investments Porgammes

The business incubator India Accelerator launched its Cohort25 for IT startups, with intentions to invest $8–10 million in the flagship initiative. Accel, a multi-stage venture capital firm that has unicorns in its portfolio that includes Moneyview, Flipkart, Swiggy, and Moglix, announced the fourth batch of its flagship pre-seed investment program, Atoms, earlier in September. Funding raised by domestic fintech firms fell 19% to $2.5 billion in 2024 from $3.1 billion in the same period last year, according to Inc42's Annual Funding Report, 2024.

Despite advancements in financial inclusion, women in India continue to encounter barriers to getting financial services that are suited to their needs. "Whether it's inactive bank accounts, limited savings options, or the difficulty women entrepreneurs have getting credit, the Swanari TechSprint is a call to action for fintech innovators to address these gaps," said Supriya Sharma, Partner - Insights, IIMA Ventures.

Previous Cohorts

Previous cohort winners have included Kaleidofin, Merakal, Vitto, Anniyam Payment, MaksPay, Manipal Business Solutions, Sampatti Card, Haqdarshak, and Agripal. A fully owned subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of India, the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH) focuses on harnessing innovation and technology to give Indians convenient access to financing.