"Startups on India’s Digital Public Infra Valued at $100B: Nilekani"

Nandan Nilekani reveals that startups leveraging India's digital public infrastructure have reached a valuation of $100 billion. This reflects the substantial impact of digital technology on India's entrepreneurial landscape, emphasizing the transformative role of digital public services in fostering a thriving startup ecosystem and driving significant economic growth.

Infosys cofounder and non-executive chairman Nandan Nilekani announced that startups leveraging India’s digital public infrastructure are now valued at over $100 billion.

Nilekani shared this estimate during his speech at the Global Fintech Festival 2024, noting that the market value of startups based on India’s digital public infrastructure (DPI) is approximately $100 billion. He reiterated that the unified payments interface (UPI) was designed to provide a foundation for entrepreneurs to develop innovative solutions.

At the event, Nilekani introduced a concept he calls “Finternet,” which he envisions as the future of finance. He described Finternet as a user-centric and integrated platform that would encompass all types of assets within a universal infrastructure. According to Nilekani, the Finternet will integrate various assets—including land, property, bonds, financial investments, art, and paintings—into a single infrastructure and tokenize them. He explained that current financial systems struggle to meet user demands for more choices and control.

Nilekani emphasized that Finternet would enable universal participation and control over assets, including user-controlled assets, user-generated content, NFTs, certified assets, registered assets like land, and regulated financial products. These remarks were made on the first day of the Global Fintech Festival 2024 in Mumbai, which is expected to be attended by notable figures such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

On Day 1, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das introduced two new products from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI): UPI Circle, which lets users delegate payments to trusted secondary users, and Bharat BillPay For Business, which automates various invoice payments for companies. Additionally, Flipkart’s fintech app super.money launched its first product, a co-branded credit card with Utkarsh Small Finance Bank. The Indian fintech sector, which has secured over $28 billion in funding from 2014 to 2023 and includes more than 23 unicorns and 36 soonicorns, is thriving. This growth is largely due to the increasing number of internet users, widespread smartphone adoption, and affordable internet rates. Digital public infrastructure initiatives like UPI, ONDC, and the account aggregator framework have created numerous use cases and contributed to the rise of major fintech players. According to an Inc42 report, the Indian fintech market is expected to reach a $2.1 trillion opportunity by 2030.

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Source: inc42‍