Host: Catalyst

With just about a week to go for the last date of submission for the Catalyst Incubator call, a small but enthusiastic audience participated in a discussion to explore the opportunity and what makes it special. The venue was Odeon Social in New Delhi and the speaker for the day was Vivekdeep Gupta, Associate Director Strategic Innovations at Catalyst.

The workshop opened with an introduction to the broader work that Catalyst does to enable low-income consumers and merchants to move to a less-cash ecosystem and towards financial inclusion. Program head Vivekdeep introduced the Incubator program, and the future trajectory of Fintech solutions to be supported through the incubator project. He highlighted that solutions to enable and empower the last mile to access digital payments need to be supported and nurtured through funding, mentorship, and linkage to a vast network of partners working in the area.

The participants sought information about the long-term support, design and research inputs and mentorship that the shortlisted solutions will receive as a part of the journey with the Catalyst Incubator.

The entries for the program range from newspaper bill payment digitization as a value-added service for vendors, with a potential to digitize consumers in large numbers to customized loan solutions for housewives who need to bridge the monthly budget with dynamic repayment options.