The importance of Finfluencers have assumed immense importance and they are helping start-ups connect with people. They can help start-up founders deal with complex financial issues that many of the tech founders may do not understand. They make things complex to simple and also help start-up founders understand when to raise money and complex things about valuation.
Many prominent Finfluencers were discussing on the theme “Champions of Change: Finfluencers Driving Startup Innovation” on the sidelines of a major start-up event -- StartUp sphere 2024 -- organized by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) in Bengaluru.
“Finfluencers simplify complex financial topics to be easily understood, comparing their approach to making it accessible even for a 10th grader in India,” remarked Sakchi Jain a content creator who has scores of followers on social media. Jain emphasized the effectiveness of Finfluencers, especially during the pandemic, and how they helped in reaching a broader audience with financial services.
On the other hand Manish Balani, Fintech Sales and Strategy Consultant and a Finfluencer emphasized the importance of combining financial expertise with technological innovation in startup strategies. Another Finfluencer and Founder Betafin Partners and CAJobPortal Anurag Singal discussed the importance of managing liquidity effectively to ensure the survival and growth of startups. Collectively, they stressed how Finfluencers enhance financial literacy and make intricate financial ideas easier to grasp.
Additionally, the panel also focused on startups leveraging strategic financial practices and tools recommended by experts including GST compliance. Manish Balani, Fintech Sales and Strategy Consultant highlighted the invaluable role of Finfluencers in guiding startups through challenges. Broadly the discussion centred around how Finfluencers play a pivotal role in driving significant changes within the startup community and are helping bridge the gap between finance and technology for sustainable development.
Another interesting discussion around the topic “Integrating AI- Startups case studies focused on the role of AI in almost all areas of IT, its role in enhancing intelligence capabilities and the new use cases coming up as enterprise-grade companies are increasingly adopting AI tools to drive operational efficiencies. It was discussed about how AI playing a critical role in areas such as fraud detection and prevention, that bolsters transaction security and trust among users. The improvement in certain aspects of AI systems in areas such as chatbots also drew interesting responses. The need to meet key challenges in AI deployment such as the need for good data sets, better security protocols, data segregation and ensuring a continuous relationship with regulatory bodies to keep in AI tools in tune with changing regulatory norms were also discussed during the session. This discussion was moderated by Vikram Pandya, Research Head, Varanium VC, and had participants such as Utpal Chakraborty, Chief Technology Officer, IntellAI, Rajesh Mirjankar, Managing Director and CEO, Kiya.ai, Vish Arunachalam, Co-Founder and CEO, ProScaler.ai.
The key focal points of the event include exploring governmental backing for startups, diversifying funding channels such as revenue financing, debt options, and hedging strategies, emerging trends in startup ventures, the intricate dynamics of startup valuation, deciphering term sheets, shareholders agreements, and legal intricacies. This event is being supported by Startup India, Startup Karnataka, MeitY Startup Hub, STPI, and I-Hub, StartUp Sphere provides a unique platform for startups to connect with peers, industry experts, and potential investors, while exploring the latest trends and innovations.
The aim of the StartUp sphere 2024 aims to bring together the dynamic startup community, including partners, unicorns, leading influencers, founders, investors, leaders, and entrepreneurs, to discuss a broad range of topics related to the startup ecosystem. The goal is to raise awareness, foster idea generation, facilitate capacity building, and offer support for the growth of India's startup ecosystem.