Axis Bank, the third largest private bank in the country, completed its first ‘Graduation Day’ for six startups that were inducted as part of its startup accelerator program called ‘Thought Factory’ on 21st July 2017.
Thought Factory was set up a year back, becoming the first ever startup accelerator program of its kind, started by a private bank in India. The idea behind this program was to develop banking and financial solutions in the fin-tech space. A total of six startups were identified and mentored for a year in order to propel Axis Bank in becoming the country’s first ever fully digitized bank.
The event took place in the Thought actory, located in Bangalore’s Diamond district. The startups that graduated from the first batch called ‘Think Tank’ were S2Pay, Pally, Perpule, Fin-techLabs, Paymatrix and Gieom. These startups talked about the solutions they offer and how they want to disrupt the fin-tech space in the event.
Axis Bank later announced that they have selected three startups out of above mentioned six, who’s solutions they are planning to deploy in its business units on a commercial level. The three startup that were fortunate enough to be picked among the six were Pally, Fin-tech Labs and Gieom.
Rajiv Anand, executive director, Axis Bank, said, “We will pilot these solutions internally before releasing them to our customers. Axis Bank doesn’t take any stake in these start-ups, neither will we invest in any. We will associate with these start-ups on a commerce agreement basis”.
A thing to note here is that the accelerator program that started last year had a total of 108 applicants, out of which only six made it to the graduation day. The startups making the cut were found to be efficient in the emerging fin-tech space of online payments, investment and analytics and it is hoped that they’ll pave the way for digitizing the modern-day banking system.
Photos Clicked at the Event
Let’s take a look at the six startups that graduated from the Thought Factory.
S2Pay
They are into the Payment space. Digital Payments have a dependency on internet connection and S2Pay solves this problem. Their technology helps users in making payments without the use on internet on their mobile app.
Pally
They are into the Investments space. With their app, you just need to upload your payslip and the app with determine your investment portfolio taking maximum savings on income tax into consideration. The investment plan is customized for each user through a chat bot that takes the individual’s saving plans and other details into consideration.
Fin-techLabs
Their solutions are aimed at digitizing the lending space. They develop lending management platform which offers different analytics model focused at digital spending. Some of the solutions offered by fin-techLabs are peer-to-peer lending marketplace software, loan management software, ID proof verification etc.
Perpule
This startup has been funded by Kalaari capital. Their technology helps to beat the check-out queues when you go shopping. You just need to scan the products that you want to buy, wait for the list to populate and make the payment online. As simple as that!
Paymatrix
Paymatrix connects landlords and tenants using its technology. Rent payments and receipt generation process is simplified with their technology. They also offer various payment options and you can also customize the rental agreement as per the requirements.
Gieom
This firm offers cloud-based solutions and analytics to help large firms manage their employee productivity, change management, operations, risk and drive compliance. It also helps banks transition smoothly to new IT systems.
The Thought Factory is a really good initiative by Axis bank that provides a platform for budding startup to get mentored and helps them in learning the business and marketing aspect of things. This platform also exposes the startups to VC’s and Angel Investors which opens the doors to a lot of opportunities.
We will certainly keep a watch on the Thought Factory and keep on updated on the upcoming events. Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below.