• Government of Karnataka already announced the setting up of COE on fintech at Mangalore- Fintech setup by KDEM will drive this.
• Taskgroup to design Karnataka’s Fintech Policy

Bengaluru, 17^th  November 2021 (GPN): The Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM), in partnership with India’s topmost Financial Technology companies, announces the launch of its Fintech Task-group under the leadership of Mr. Harshil Mathur, Founder, and CEO, Razorpay. The task group will work towards creating a projected roadmap for the growth of the industry, identifying the opportunities and challenges

faced by the fintech ecosystem in the state and leverage the partnering institutions and government to solve for them.

The task group will undertake ambitious goals like mentoring up and coming innovations, offering knowledge repositories and training avenues on Fintech issues, financial and banking literacy for MSMEs and retail consumers, advocacy and regulatory support for extant and upcoming innovations as well as leading the charge in the creation of India’s Fintech Roadmap through adequate hands-on insights and evidence-based advocacy.

Commenting on the launch of another milestone as part of its Beyond Bengaluru Initiative, B V Naidu, Chairman, KDEM said, “India has emerged as one of the world’s fastest-growing tech innovation hubs in the world, with Fintech leading the charge as the industry has raised close to USD 10 Billion in investment. India’s financial inclusion and digitization success story have been made possible by the combined efforts of the government as well as tech innovations, fundamentally disrupting the way masses access financial services. Taking a cue from this, KDEM launched the first Karnataka Fintech Taskgroup, bringing together industry leaders to further pave the way for future innovations, founders, and citizens to participate in India’s Fintech success story.”

Reports by FICCI and BCG suggest that the Indian Fintech sector is all set to attain a valuation of USD 150-160 Billion by 2025. Karnataka is home to India’s leading Fintech companies like Razorpay, Zerodha, Khatabook, Cred to name a few. These companies are tackling issues ranging from digital payments adoption to offering efficient neo-banking solutions, investment avenues, access to easy credit, thereby fueling India’s ambitious goals within the Digital India mandate. The taskgroup comprises of Mr. Harshil Mathur from Razorpay as the leader of the group, Mr. Timmanna Gouda of Whatsloan, Mr. Miten Sampat from CRED, Mr. Nithin Kamath from Zerodha, Mr. Raveesh Naresh of Khatabook, Mr. Harsh Jain from Groww, and Mr. Johnson Tellis Governing council member Sahyadri Institution

With KDEM’s efforts and its symbiosis with the fintech industry leaders, state and central government stakeholders, and ancillary bodies, this dedicated task group will strive towards creating a projected roadmap for the growth of the industry, identifying the opportunities and challenges faced by the fintech ecosystem in the state, and leverage the partnering institutions and government to solve for them. The Taskgroup would work with KDEM towards the creation of the ‘Karnataka Centre for Excellence’. The Centre would serve as a hub for delivering on the key objectives of the taskgroup as well as support, and offer accelerator support to early-stage Fintech startups and innovators.

Commenting on the roadmap for the taskgroup, Mr Sanjeev Gupta, MD, and CEO, Lahari, KDEM said, “The Karnataka Fintech Taskgroup will determine the future journey of India’s Fintech by bringing startups and new technologies and collaborating with the MSMEs, larger financial institutions, bringing better accessibility towards financial services to the masses. We are aiming for creating 10 unicorns in the coming years in the fintech space and provide 1000s of digital jobs for our emerging clusters. We are committed to identifying, supporting, and nurturing talent in fintech startups. Another goal of the Taskgroup is to provide a membership-based platform to early-stage startups and founders for insights and mentorship opportunities from established founders and organisations.”

Mr. Harshil Mathur, CEO & Founder, Razorpay said, “This collaboration between the industry and government is a critical milestone for India’s fintech ecosystem. As Karnataka cements Its place as a global fintech Hub, our taskforce will work with the Karnataka Government and industry players across the board to unlock new areas of innovation, and growth. We are confident that the next generation of fintech startups from Karnataka are going to bring technology at the centre of India’s journey to a 5 Trillion dollar economy.” ENDS