- 100+ entries were received, and 48 teams were shortlisted and presented to our jury members
- Six winners were selected, two from each theme, along with four Special Appreciation Awards
- Winners and Special Appreciation Award recipients showcased their solutions and were felicitated at SamvAAd 2026 in Mumbai
The Financial Services Innovation Challenge 2026 recognised products built on Open Finance data, from customer-facing solutions that widen access to B2B tools that help institutions manage risk and scale. The results were announced on 15 October 2026 at SamvAAd 2026, Sahamati’s flagship community event, at Grand Hyatt, Mumbai.
About the Challenge
Run in collaboration with IIMA Ventures as the Innovation Challenge Partner, the challenge had three themes:
- Expanding Financial Services Access: customer-facing solutions that improve access and inclusion for end users.
- Engineering the Financial Backbone: solutions that help institutions manage risk, compliance and decision-making.
- Imagining the Next Data Layer: solutions showing what becomes possible as new data sources join Open Finance.
Themes 1 and 2 had separate winners at the MVP and Live Product stages. Each winning team received ₹1 lakh.
How winners were selected
Out of 100+ entries received, 48 were shortlisted by the Sahamati and IIMA Ventures teams to present to the jury. These entries were assessed on impact, use of financial data, innovation and execution, and scalability, with expectations adjusted for each solution’s stage.
The Jury
- Leena Datwani, Inclusive Finance Consultant, CGAP
- Pawan Bakhshi, India Lead, Inclusive Financial Systems, Gates Foundation
- Anurag Saxena, VP Asia and Regional Office Head, Accion
- Suraj Moraje, Independent Director, Sahamati; former Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company
- Vikram Chachra, Founding Partner, 8i Ventures
- Anand Datta, Partner, Nexus Venture Partners
- Girraj Prasad Garg, Former Executive Director, SEBI
- Raman Aggarwal, CEO, FIDC India
- Prabhat Chaturvedi, CEO, NUCFDC
- Navendu Sharma, Principal at Peak XV
The Winners
| S.No. | Theme | Award | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Expanding Financial Services Access | Winner – MVP Stage | Paytm Money – AArohi |
| 2 | Expanding Financial Services Access | Winner – Live Product Stage | FinAGG |
| 3 | Engineering the Financial Backbone | Winner – MVP Stage | FinLead AI |
| 4 | Engineering the Financial Backbone | Winner – Live Product Stage | Kosh |
| 5 | Imagining the Next Data Layer | Winner – Live Product Stage | Credgenics |
| 6 | Imagining the Next Data Layer | Winner – Prototype | INSIGHT X – FINNA |
| 7 | Expanding Financial Services Access | Special Appreciation Award | Finarkein |
| 8 | Expanding Financial Services Access | Special Appreciation Award | InPrime Finserv |
| 9 | Engineering the Financial Backbone | Special Appreciation Award | Catalysk |
| 10 | Imagining the Next Data Layer | Special Appreciation Award | Mera Kal |
Celebrating the Winners
Paytm Money – AArohi: A vernacular, voice-first money companion that uses AA data to help women track state transfers, recover missing payments, find schemes and start saving.
FinAGG (Famescore): An MSME scoring model that combines GST, banking and bureau data through Open Finance to give lenders credit decisions in minutes.
FinLead AI: AI agents that use AA data to find gaps in a family’s health cover, check affordability and prepare the case for insurer underwriting.
Kosh: A digital lending platform bringing India’s industrial and blue-collar workforce, many of them new to credit, into formal credit through AA.
Credgenics: An AI-powered collections voicebot that uses financial and repayment data to run personalised, compliant, multilingual calls at scale.
INSIGHT X – FINNA: A consent-based financial identity for gig workers that turns scattered financial signals into access to relevant benefits and products.
Special Appreciation Awards
Given the strength of the entries, four more solutions were recognised for their potential to create meaningful market impact.
Finarkein: Cash-flow and investment-based underwriting that helps lenders reassess new-to-credit borrowers declined on bureau scores.
InPrime Finserv: AA-led underwriting and pre-EMI balance checks that bring fairly priced credit to informal businesses and help them avoid bounce charges.
Catalysk: A sustainability score for individuals, built on AA transaction data, laying the groundwork for green consumer finance.
Mera Kal: A case for bringing Post Office small savings data onto AA, so savers can access affordable credit against their savings in minutes.
Sahamati thanks the jury, IIMA Ventures and all Innovation Challenge Partners, and every team that took part. Congratulations to all the winners and Special Appreciation Award recipients.