Sambalpur, December, 2019: Indian Institute of Management Sambalpur (IIM-S), one of the most promising and dynamic management institutions among the new generation IIMs of the country hosted today an enriching workshop for the aspiring FinTech start-ups in collaboration with Visa.Incidentally, the workshop also marked the commencement of the Odisha Chapter of Visa Everywhere Initiative, India 2020 from IIM Sambalpur. The workshop also witnessed key entrepreneurs and leaders in the FinTech space sharing their respective entrepreneurial journeys, the challenges faced and the mitigation approaches adopted before an astute audience comprising of aspiring FinTech start-up members, academicians, researchers, business administrators and management students. The workshop also featured discussion on the VEI program, showcasing of case studies from the past winners and networking with senior Visa executives and its clients.

On this effort of hosting the workshop at IIM –S, Prof. Mahadeo Jaiswal, Director, Indian Institute of Management Sambalpur said, “At IIM Sambalpur, we practice Innovation, Integrity and Inclusion as our institute’s core operating value and due to this we are known as IIM 3.0. The research focus of IIM Sambalpur is around 3 D’s (Digitalisation, De-carbonisation and Democratisation of Business) and thus workshop in collaboration with Visa was perfectly aligned to our Digitalisation research strategy as well as to our core operating value of innovation and inclusiveness. We are sure that such industry led knowledge exchange programmes and competition based initiatives especially like this in the financial technology domain will boost up the level of confidence among the budding start-ups and influence a culture of Entrepreneurship among the future business leaders of the country.”

VEI is a global innovation program by Visa, a global payments technology major which tasks start-ups to solve payments and commerce challenges of tomorrow, further enhance their own product propositions and provide visionary solutions for Visa’s vast network of partners. The FinTech start-ups those registering for the VEI India, 2020 will work on certain themes which address the barriers to higher acceptance of digital payments in India. These range from growing digital payment awareness and usage beyond metros to increasing access to credit or scaling commercial payments.

FinTechs can sign up for VEI and register for any of the three business challenges. Post registering, each FinTech will get to access Visa APIs, build solutions for the challenges they have chosen and develop a proof of concept that highlights the salience of their unique solutions. Participating FinTechs will also get a chance to be mentored by senior Visa executives and product leads through a Mentorship Program which willhelp them leverage Visa’s technology & business related competences for their solutions. Successively, FinTechs will be invited to pitch their solutions along with the Proof of Concept to an elite jury of industry experts. Nine finalists shortlisted will then participate in the Finale of the Visa Everywhere Initiative, to be held in Mumbai in March 2020 having an aggregated prize money of INR 35,00,000 (INR Thirty-five lacs) to be awarded to the winners.

VEI first launched in the U.S. in 2015 and quickly expanded into a global program with more than 6000+ participating startups, which have collectively raised over $2.5 billion+ in funding, with more than 250+ finalists and nearly 100 winners selected. The program activates in North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia, Middle East and Africa, touching over 100+ countries.