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Indian Fintech Startup ftcash Wins MIT’s Inclusive Innovation Challenge
Indian Fintech Startup ftcash Wins MIT’s Inclusive Innovation Challenge

Indian Fintech Startup ftcash Wins MIT’s Inclusive Innovation Challenge

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Key takeaways

  • Mumbai-based startup ftcash has won the global grand prize at the 2018 MIT Inclusive Innovation Challenge.
  • The startup is renowned for promoting financial inclusion through digital payment solutions and instant loans.
  • ftcash was selected from over 1,500 global registrants for its innovative and scalable use of machine learning and analytics.
  • Founded in mid-2015 and incubated by PayPal, ftcash received a $250,000 prize for its contributions to the future of work.
  • The company assesses credit-worthiness using transaction data to provide financing to underserved small and medium enterprises.
5 min
Mumbai-based startup ftcash, known for driving financial inclusion with its innovative solutions around Digital Payment and Instant Loan has won the global grand prize winner for the 2018 MIT Inclusive Innovation Challenge, a company press statement indicated. The much-awarded Mumbai startup, incubated by PayPal emerged as a winner from more than 1,500 global registrants for its scalable solutions that leverage machine learning and analytics. The startup launched in mid-2015 received a prize of $250,000 for Most Innovative Future of Work in the World. According to the startup’s website, the company uses its proprietary algorithm to understand the credit-worthiness using their transaction flow data on the payments platform along with several other data points which can are used to provide underserved small and medium enterprises with institutional finance. After the loans are disbursed, the collections is done using the payments platform for their future receivables. Vaibhav Lodha, co-founder of ftcash said, “It is our absolute pleasure and honour to be recognized by MIT. This award represents the highest achievement in inclusive technology, but in our case, it is a validation and reflection of our mission of financial inclusion that resonates with millions of individuals globally”. He further added how the technology is enabling small business owner in India without a credit history gain access to credit or digital payments. “With MIT’s unparalleled strength in technology and their commitment to Digital Economy and Artificial Intelligence, we are looking forward to a successful partnership that can allow us to harness the best available resources in the world,” he noted. According to Erik Brynjolfsson, Director of the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy, the grand challenge has been created to acknowledge companies which are using digital technologies to create shared prosperity.
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