Andhra Pradesh announced Rs 100 crore fund of funds to develop Fin Tech startups

The Government of Andhra Pradesh on 25 January 2017 announced a Rs 100 crore fund of funds to develop financial technology (Fin Tech) startup ecosystem in the State. The announcement was made by State's special Chief Secretary JA Chowdary.

About the Fin Tech Fund

• The fund will be managed professionally by a venture capital firm.

• The fund seeks to strengthen the industry-academia-government partnership in order to develop skilled human resources in the Fin Tech sector.

• The focus of this fund of funds is to develop Vishakapatnam as a global FinTech hub.

Some of the recent initiatives of AP Government in Fin Tech sector are -

• The Government of Andhra Pradesh identified as the Fin Tech sector as one of the promising industry to generate employment in the coming years.

• Accordingly, in December 2016, the State Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

• The MoU seeks to explore projects of mutual interest on innovative technologies such as digital payments and blockchain (database) technology.

• The MoU also facilitates collaboration on the development of education programmes and curricula on Fin Tech.

• A decision was also taken to develop the Vizag Fintech Valley in Vishakapatnam.

• In the proposed Fin Tech Valley, all the necessary digital infrastructure will be developed to boost the Fin Tech sector in the city.

• In the short-term, the objective is to develop 100 start-ups and up to 15 global companies with their centres of excellence housed in the Vizag Fintech Valley.

• A high-level advisory board will be set up to advise the Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on the policies related to Fin Tech sector. The advisory board will consist of Fin Tech industry executives.

• The government is planning to hold a global Fin Tech competition with a high prize-money in October 2017.