YES BANK launches second cohort of YES FINTECH accelerator

There is no shortage of innovation and entrepreneurial talent in the country, especially when it comes to ideas related to technology. In fact, India now ranks third in the world, right after the US and the UK, in terms of the number of technology startups it is home to. In the last few years, the country’s flourishing startup ecosystem has been bolstered by several initiatives, both from the government (Startup India and Digital India programmes), as well as the private sector.

Corporate India has been taking a keen interest in nurturing startups, through several key initiatives. YES BANK, India’s fifth-largest private sector bank, has been significantly contributing to the fintech space by collaborating with and mentoring more than 100 fintech startups to co-create innovative financial solutions for its Corporate, SME, and retail customer base. In March this year, they launched a business accelerator programme for fintech startups called YES FINTECH, in association with T-Hub, Anthill, and LetsTalkPayments.

The inaugural edition of the 15-week programme successfully concluded in July with the graduation of 10 startups, selected from over 750 applicants. Of the 10 startups, five have solutions in the go-to-market stage and four have POCs live with YES BANK. These include Numberz, which is trying to simplify the integration of business workflows with banking services to help the bank’s MSME clients be GST-ready; Rupeeseed, which is modelling capital market solutions using robo-advisory; FRS Labs, which is designing fraud detection technology; Morph.ai, which is building chatbots; and Signzy, which is building solutions to ensure due diligence through algorithmic risk intelligence.

YES BANK is all set to launch the second cohort of YES FINTECH, which will kick off on November 13. The programme will assist select startups with product-market-fit guidance, wide access to a global audience, and accelerated joint go to-market within 15 weeks. For fintech startups looking to make it big at a global level, this could be the best opportunity to be propelled into the big league.

Applications are now open. The last date to apply is October 14.

YES FINTECH has tied up with 20+ leading global startup biomes across the US, the UK, Europe, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. These include Israel-based crowd-funding platform OurCrowd; QC Fintech – a leading US-based fintech accelerator; Malaysia-based global equity crowd-funding initiative Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Center (MaGIC); Netherlands-based fintech ecosystem Holland Fintech; Innovation Center of Denmark; Abu Dhabi Global Markets; and Finland-based fintech accelerator Nestholma.

Commenting on the launch, Rana Kapoor, Managing Director & CEO, YES BANK, said, “The BFSI industry in India is clearly at an inflection point, and we are thrilled that with YES FINTECH, we are leading with innovation and shaping the fintech ecosystem in the country. We believe the strategic integration of solutions into YES BANK systems from the successfully graduated fintech startups of inaugural cohort of YES FINTECH, will give us substantial advantage in the market. Further, by inviting global partnerships, we have opened the gates of cross-border innovations in fintech and expect this move to benefit the entire fintech space in India.”

• There is zero upfront equity commitment, and an opportunity for the participating startups to get funding upto $1 million via the programmes’s VC partners
• The selected startups get access to 100+ YES BANK APIs, are mentored on global markets, and gain access to investors and YES BANK’s 2 million + retail and 10,000 corporate clients
• The extensive global network allows select startups to participate in exclusive international exchange immersion programmes, and visit global markets to understand the local fintech landscape and enable market entry

For this edition of YES FINTECH, YES BANK is looking to work with startups in the Lending, Digital Payments, Real-time Data Analytics, Cybersecurity, Big Data and Analytics, Process Automation, Smart Decisioning, Digital Banking, Wealthtech, and Investech space.

The applications will go through a stringent evaluation process and shortlisted startups will be invited to pitch to a panel of YES FINTECH mentors, VC partners, and YES BANK’s top management. Following this, selected startups will work with YES BANK mentors and partners to build on their solutions.

YES BANK is organising roadshows in Mumbai and Bengaluru for those interested in knowing more about the programme.

The YES FINTECH roadshow in Mumbai will include a Fireside Discussion on GES (Global Entrepreneurship Summit) and its impact on Fintech and Mumbai as India’s Fintech Hub. In conversation will be Amit Goel, Founder LTP, Puneet Shukla, NITI Aayog and Vivek Belgavi, Partner, PwC. After this, Rajeev Chari, COO, Numberz and Arpit Ratan, Founder, Signzy, both startups that graduated from the Summer Cohort of YES FINTECH, will share their experience of being a part of the programme.

When: 6th October

Where: ISME Ace, One India Bulls, Lower Parel, Mumbai

Time: 2 pm-5pm

The YES FINTECH roadshow in Bengaluru will begin with a GES lead-up panel discussion on ‘Women in Fintech. Panellists will include Lizzie Chapman from Zestmoney, Prashanthi Reddy from YES BANK and Dr. Anna Roy of NITI Aayog. Following this, Shankar, Founder, FRS Labs, and Ankit Ratan, Founder, Signzy, both startups that graduated from the Summer Cohort of YES FINTECH, will share their experience of what it was to participate in the programme.

When: 11th October

Where: 91 Springboard, 8th Block Koramangala, Bengaluru

Time: 2 pm-5pm

Register for the roadshows today.

Hurry, as October 14 is the last date to apply to the YES FINTECH programme.