Their final choice was FIA Global, a platform that helps people in some of the most remote areas of the country avail of formal financial services, from opening a bank account and taking a loan to investing in mutual funds and buying digital gold.
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ETtechInitially, it was a three-way contest among FIA Global, insurance intermediary Gramcover and edtech firm Vidyakul. Gramcover and FIA got equal votes in the preliminary round and moved to the next due to their theme of “inclusion and employment”, said one of the jury members.
“Some categories like social enterprise were very hard to decide on because of the social impact each of the startups has created,” said Razorpay CEO Harshil Mathur, one of the jury members. “I hope such winners encourage more founders to pick up harder problems facing not just India but the world.”
In the final round too, both fintech companies got equal votes of five each, before one of the founders on the jury cast the deciding vote that tipped the scales in FIA’s favour.
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“I extend my sincere gratitude to The Economic Times for honouring us with this award,” said Seema Prem, founder of FIA Global. “This year has been a profound period of growth and resilience for FIA, marked by valuable lessons learned during challenging times.”
Launched in 2012, FIA Global has 35,000 outlets that function as mini bank branches. Equipped with a laptop, biometric device and printer, the facilities are manned by micro entrepreneurs from the local community. These are connected with the partner bank’s core banking solution, enabling customers to walk in and conduct basic financial transactions in real time.
The Gurugram-based company aims to expand the number of its outlets to 200,000-250,000 by 2025.
“The company’s focus in the coming year will be on empowering individuals towards financial well-being,” Prem said. “The story of resilience extends to our banking agents and loyal customers who have stood by us for over a decade. Enabling the unbanked in their journey from financial exclusion to taking control of their financial lives embodies our success and we remain committed to achieving our mission.”
While financial inclusion remains a goal, Prem said the shift in approach towards financial wellbeing has happened post-Covid. The company works with over 40 institutions — 10 public sector banks, five private ones and 25 grameen banks.
“Something remarkable I’ve noticed about the companies nominated for social impact is their extraordinary business models, a blend of rarity and powerful unit economics. When we talk about ‘impact’, it should resonate deeply with the core essence of business sustainability. Aligning purpose with profitability is where the real magic happens,” said juror Arjun Sethi, cofounder of Tribe Capital, a Silicon Valley venture capital fund.
Prem said that the JAM (Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile) trinity was instrumental in catapulting the company’s growth. For context, FIA Global has gone from 10 million accounts in 2014 to now serving 75 million customers in South Asia and handling $7 billion in financial transactions annually.
Other contenders:
Bioprime Agrisolutions
ETtech(from left) Bioprime team – Amit Shinde, Renuka Diwan, Shekhar Bhonsle
Bioprime is a biotech startup that develops biologicals using small trigger molecules that can metabolically reprogramme plants to make them climate resilient, reduce their carbon footprint, restore soil health and give better yields.
GramCover
ETtechGramcover founder Jatin Singh
GramCover promotes insurance services to the rural community in India. The company claims to have sold over 8.4 million insurance policies to over 5 million Indian farmers through its platform since inception, and has a customer presence across 16 states.
Vidyakul
ETtech(From left) Vidyakul cofounders Tarun Saini, Raman Garg
Vidyakul is a vernacular edtech platform catering to students from tier 2 and tier 3 cities and towns in local languages, at affordable prices. Nearly half the students are girls. Vidyakul has also built Vidya Mitra AI, a Hindi-language AI bot aimed at clearing students’ doubts.