New Delhi: Global financial services player J.P. Morgan on Tuesday joined hands with the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM-A) to start a financial inclusion lab to help early stage fin-tech startups to achieve scale.

The $9.5 million dollar initiative will be part of the IIM-A’s incubation and entrepreneurship centre and aims at identifying and bringing to scale early-stage fin-tech startups that are focused on helping people in the lower and middle income (LMI) segment, both the organizations said on Tuesday.

The lab will host a series of accelerator programs to identify solutions for specific financial challenges, and leading ideas will be supported with start-up capital, market access, technical assistance, mentoring, and sector expertise. Fin-tech entrepreneurs are now being invited to apply to join the lab.

J.P. Morgan will provide up to $7 million over the next four years towards this initiative. This would be the largest philanthropic commitment made by J.P. Morgan outside of the US, the company said. The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are also supporting the plan.

“Our initiative aims to identify and nurture fin-tech startups to generate innovative ideas which will help make financial products and services more accessible to this critical mass of Indians. JPMorgan Chase’s Financial Solutions Lab model is being introduced outside of the US for the first time," said Kalpana Morparia, CEO, South and South East Asia, J.P. Morgan.

“We are excited to partner with J.P. Morgan to create access and opportunity for more people to join the financial mainstream by unlocking entrepreneurial energy," said Priyanka Chopra, chief operating officer of the Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship at IIM-A.

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