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STPI FinBlue in Chennai (FinTech CoE) has selected the second cohort of 20 start-ups for on- boarding from the FinTech domain such as trading, banking and lending. It has signed an MoU with ASEAN Financial Innovation Network Ltd (AFIN) to explore cross border collaboration.

The pact will strengthen the collaboration for leveraging the latter’s expertise and knowledge to empower start-ups incubated at STPI FinBlue, Chennai to develop world class products. 

T Mano Thangaraj, Minister for IT, TN, expressed his confidence on the success and vision of STPI FinBlue start-up ecosystem to develop innovative FinTech products and services and bringing TN and India as the Global FinTech Hub. 

Arun Jain, CMD, Intellect Design Arena and Chief Mentor of FinBlue explained the Operationalisation of FinBlue undertaken based on Six Pillars such as understanding Buyers Needs, Product Ranking, Policies for the Product Business, Funding Ecosystem, Mentoring and International Networking. He exuded confidence “the fintech products developed by the finblue start-ups will reach out to 120 countries”. 

Sopnendu Mohanthy, Chief FinTech Officer, Monetary Authority of Singapore said the combination would make a real impact globally in the fintech sector. 

Omkar Rai, DG, STPI said the MoU would guide and motivate the onboarded fintech start-ups. Devesh Tyagi, Sr Director STPI, said the collaboration would also help in sharing the best practices across the border. 

Neeraj Mittal, Principal Secretary, Dept of IT, TN said STPI FinBlue will herald a new chapter for all the fintech start-ups, besides enabling people to access digital technology. Internet access will be made available in all gram panchayats via Bharat Net contract, he sought to point out. 

Sanjay Tyagi, Director, STPI-Chennai and CEO of FinBlue explained various initiatives taken over the past two years by the STPI-Meity, in association with ELCOT for onboarding the FinTech start-ups, setting up of sandbox and API Exchange, supporting start-ups through mentoring, funding, international networking and go to market strategy.

The MoU is for exploring cross border collaboration

STPI FinBlue, Chennai, on Wednesday signed an MoU with ASEAN Financial Innovation Network Ltd (AFIN) to explore cross border collaboration. The signing of MoU with AFIN will strengthen the collaboration for leveraging the latter’s expertise and knowledge to empower start-ups incubated at STPI FinBlue, Chennai to develop ‘World Class Products,’ says a release from STPI Chennai.

STPI FinBlue, Chennai, is a domain specific facility for start-ups working in financial technology at Chennai. Setup by STPI, the CoE is having incubation centre along with SandBox and API Exchange access and provides the necessary support like training, mentoring, marketing, access to funding resources, IPR/ patenting assistance and other requisite support to the start-ups working in this domain.

Devesh Tyagi, Senior Director, STPI, said that it is very apt for STPI to sign an MoU with AFIN so that both the leading FinTech technology countries can collaborate with each other and share the best practices across the border, the release said.

The state has been focusing on geographical divergence by encouraging IT companies to set up units in major tier-II towns. Rather than concentrating on a select few cities, such a move will enhance economic activity across several districts.

Telangana has consistently performed well in promoting and nurturing the Information Technology/ITeS industry. The state government has laid emphasis on the IT sector ever since the formation of Telangana seven years ago.

The youngest state has achieved a manifold growth in terms of IT exports — 14.25 percent CAGR since the formation of the state — and employment generation, thanks to factors such as good civic infrastructure, connectivity, law and order, and a business-friendly environment. Measures taken to combat the COVID-19 pandemic too to maintain a steady growth in the IT/ITeS sector.

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) of the Ministry of Commerce, which , has rated three industrial parks in the IT sector in Telangana — Financial District IT, Hyderabad Knowledge City, and HiTech City IT Park Madhapur — . Leaders are Industrial Parks and Special Economic Zones registering the highest level of performance, while Challengers are those who performed ‘quite close to leaders’, but marginally lower at the aggregate level. Aspirers are parks and SEZs that need significant interventions in the future to improve their performance.

What’s more interesting is that Telangana has surpassed the national average growth in software exports. The state government has claimed that the exports from the state have more than doubled the national average in percentage terms.

India recorded a four percent growth in exports of software services (excluding exports through commercial presence). It is estimated at , according to Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The total exports were estimated at Rs.9.92 trillion in 2020-2021 from India.

According to the Software Technology Park of India, software exports by units registered with it to reach Rs 5 trillion ($67.4 billion) in FY21 from Rs 4.66 trillion ($62.82 billion) in FY20.

Telangana achieved a growth of 12.98 percent in the IT/ITeS exports in the same period. It posted a record Rs 1.45 trillion ($~19.45 billion) software exports in 2020-21 as opposed to the Rs 1.28 trillion in the previous year. Employment generation in the IT/ITeS sector too over 2019-2020.

As opposed to Telangana, the STPI-Pune, has achieved estimated exports of little over Rs 1 trillion in 2021. Estimates of exports from the region — STPI Pune directorate covers Maharashtra and Goa — are .

In terms of absolute numbers, the total number of employees in IT/ITeS in Telangana has increased . Across India, this sector saw 138,000 new hires in 2020 — that’s ~33 percent of the national hiring in this sector was done by companies in Telangana. This is a reflection of the state’s IT prowess.

In addition to attracting large investments from global giants in the IT/ITeS space, Telangana also boasts the presence of marquee companies such as Apple, Google, and Amazon. Salesforce, Goldman Sachs, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, OPPO, MassMutual, and the National Payments Corporation of India are among the many who have announced investments in the state.

The state has been focusing on geographical divergence by encouraging IT companies to set up units in major tier-II towns. Rather than concentrating on a select few cities, such a move will enhance economic activity across several districts. An incubation centre with 1,400 seats capacity has been made operational in Warangal, while a 556-seat IT tower in Karimnagar with 80,000 sq. ft space opened in July 2021.

The state government has completed IT tower in Khammam, and similar towers are coming up in Nizamabad, Mahbubnagar, and Siddipet.

The state government’s push for startups, through its T-Hub incubation centre, has helped as investment since 2015. The second phase of this project is set for inauguration.