Inc42 Fintech Summit 2022: Spotlight On The Future Of Money & Fintech Startups Navigating The Downturn

The breadth and depth of the fintech sector is pretty much unmatched in the startup ecosystem. From relatively simple services such as payments and insurance, to new-age models in DeFi, API banking, robo advisories, neobanking and more — technology is being embraced across the ecosystem of financial services.

With startups driving the next phase of fintech innovation, the funding has also come in steadily. Over $3 Bn has been raised by fintech startups this year across 153 deals, and the strength of the sector is reflected in the 21 unicorns and 33 soonicorns that come from fintech.

India also has the highest fintech adoption in the world at 87%, compared to the global adoption rate of 64%, so startup products and services have been accepted at a rapid rate in the country. UPI remains a prime example of this adoption with real-time digital payments in 48.6 Bn transactions in 2021, but the insurance and credit penetration has also been boosted by startups.

But while the story till 2021 has been one of growth, the narrative around the wider tech ecosystem has shifted towards revenue models, profitability and sustainable scaling up, problems that fintech has grappled with for some time. Amid the global slowdown, these challenges have become pressing concerns.

It’s at such crossroads in the past that startups have shown great tenacity and innovation to pull through. What will be the story this time around for fintech startups? That’s the underlying theme at Inc42’s inaugural Fintech Summit 2022, which will show how India’s fintech brigade is navigating the global downturn and looking to bounce back in the post-Covid market.

Like The Maker’s Summit in April 2022, The D2C Summit before that and The Crypto Summit in the past, the first edition of Inc42’s Fintech Summit, scheduled for July 1 and 2, is a confluence of India’s fintech leaders, regulators, bankers and product makers that are guiding the ecosystem through this current flux.

We are bringing together 50+ speakers across more than 25 sessions that are expected to see more than 1,000 attendees. Supported by Slack, Akamai, Manipal Technologies and Beams Fintech Fund, Inc42 Fintech Summit 2022 is setting the stage for India’s largest fintech conference to decode the trillion-dollar market opportunity.

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Fintech Summit 2022: Speaker Lineup

The Fintech Summit by Inc42 will bring together the brightest minds behind India’s fastest-growing fintech companies to decode the $75 Bn economy that promises to disrupt India’s $1.3 Tn financial services market opportunity.

The speaker lineup includes luminaries from the BFSI world including TV Mohandas Pai, chairman of Aarin Capital Partners and former Infosys CFO, Dr Amar Patnaik, Rajya Sabha MP (BJD) and member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, former SEBI chairman UK Sinha, Rajnish Kumar, chairman of the board, BharatPe.

And of course, from the world of startups, founders and CXOs of fintech unicorns and soonicorns such as Open’s Mabel Chacko, Oxyzo’s Ruchi Kalra and Zerodha’s Nithin Kamath, Jupiter’s Jitendra Gupta, Harshvardhan Lunia of Lendingkart, INDmoney’s Ashish Kashyap among others.

Further, the investor-led sessions will feature the likes of 3one4 Capital’s founding partner Siddarth Pai, Prime Venture Partners’ Sanjay Swamy, B Capital’s partner Karan Mohla among other major fintech backers.

Themes At Fintech Summit 2022

We are covering all bases when it comes to fintech at the conference – from building a scalable business from the lens of financial products, decoding the segments that are growing fastest, understand the trends and regulatory challenges emerging in new areas such as BNPL, API or embedded finance, central bank digital currency, infrastructure innovations such as DeFi powering these business models.

Downturn And Its Impact

Given the slowdown in the global markets, we expect several sectors to go through a churn. One of them being the wealth management and investment tech segment. ET Money CEO and founder Mukesh P Kalra; Upstox cofounder Shrini Viswanath, INDmoney’s Kashyap and Scripbox founder Atul Shinghal will lead the discussion on India’s true wealth tech opportunity and the post-Covid evolution of various investment classes.

Of course, when we talk about a downturn, we cannot forget the focus on the revenue model problem for Indian fintechs. SALT cofounder Shinjini Kumar, Prime Venture Partners’ Swamy and other fintech founders will lead the discussion on how fintech startups can find the right balance between user growth and sustainable revenue growth.

The panel will also dive into how startups can get back into the bootstrapped mindset amid changing priorities in today’s bearish climate.

The Regulatory Flux In Fintech & The Investor View 

Even as startups continue to grow and improve fintech penetration, there’s also a need to talk about how regulators view this booming sector — after all, the fintech ecosystem is closely watched by regulators such as SEBI, RBI and others. What is the position of the authorities when it comes to new-age solutions?

Despite the growth, issues such as data governance and security continue to be hurdles for many new fintech startups. Given the criticality of financial data, how are fintechs protecting themselves and customers against newer and graver threats?

And of course, when we talk about the funding winter and the downturn, the biggest impact will be seen in the way investors approach this sector. Will the funding downturn bring about a reversal towards the cash economy? What will be the focus of investors when evaluating sustainable models in 2022?

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Decoding The Real Opportunity 

Zerodha’s Nithin Kamath and Posist’s Ashish Tulsian will dive into the user numbers and the market data to decode the “real” opportunity for fintech players in India. Plus, the duo will five into the keys to unlocking new audiences and segments within BFSI and how technology is widening the pool for investments.

On the B2B side, we will have Oxyzo’s Ruchi Kalra, Kinara Capital founder Hardika Shah and Lendingkart founder Harshvardhan Lunia discuss the true potential of fintech for small and medium businesses, and how the global economic downturn might affect flow of credit to Indian SMEs.

The Future Of Fintech 

Plus, startups in the neobanking segment will delve into what’s driving this new-age digital banking wave and what are the regulatory gaps that are holding it back.

API banking and DeFi are other hot areas where startups are gaining a foothold over the traditional legacy players — what will our financial systems and banks look like once these technologies take centre-stage?

When it comes to cryptocurrency and virtual assets, India’s plan also includes a central bank digital currency which it hopes will drag the Indian economy into the DeFi future. But is this the need of the hour rather than direct regulations for private players? Will the CBDC unlock real and relevant use-cases for banks, merchants, and common people?

Plus, There’s More

In the next few days, we will raise the curtain on more of our major panel discussions, masterclasses, fireside chats and everything else in store at The Makers Summit. And we will also unveil the full speaker lineup before the event. Keep a close eye on these announcements on our social media channels.

Inc42’s Fintech Summit 2022 promises to be the biggest forum for fintech professionals and product makers to discover, connect, and network with the cream of India’s finance industry. We are inviting startups, founders, investors, enterprises, consumers and other stakeholders from the BFSI sector to join us to uncover and shine a light on the latest market trends, innovations and strategies that are driving the business of money in India in 2022.

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