Open Credit Enablement Network (OCEN) is designed to serve borrowers across all turnover bands — including micro and small businesses whose buyers are not large enough to qualify for TReDS. This inclusivity enables it to reach segments of the MSME sector that remain underserved by formal credit channels. OCEN’s ability to leverage alternative underwriting models, …
Empowering India’s Growth Engines: The Critical Role of Credit for MSMEs
June 27 – International MSME Day Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are the unsung heroes of India’s economy. Employing over 11 crore people and contributing nearly 30% to the country’s GDP, MSMEs are not just businesses – they are drivers of innovation, inclusion, and local development. On this MSME Day, we celebrate their resilience …
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OCEN Ecosystem Progress Snapshot:
The Open Credit Enablement Network (OCEN) post its initial pilot deployment and continuous upgrades and improvements has seen growing participation across the ecosystem. OCEN’s transition from its early stages into the growth phase is now reflecting in its growing volumes and addition of new ecosystem partners. Monthly Progress Report: With the start of the new …
OCEN: Credit Access for MSMEs continues to grow
The volumes and traction on Open Credit Enablement Network (OCEN) continues to grow month on month. The growing trajectory highlights OCEN’s ability to streamline and democratise credit access for MSMEs by leveraging digital public infrastructure and fostering collaboration among lenders, agents, and technology providers. Here is a snapshot of the OCEN ecosystem’s key updates for …
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OCEN: Advancing Digital Public Infrastructure for MSME Credit Access
The Open Credit Enablement Network (OCEN) is steadily progressing from its early stages into a more robust growth phase. With its current ecosystem participants, OCEN has started facilitating smoother credit delivery to MSMEs. At the same time, numerous other players are integrating into the protocol and developing specialized loan offerings tailored to the needs of …
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Imagining Indian Cities: #1 ‘Creative Bangalore’
There is a need for a continuous conversation about the best way to shape the future of Indian cities. This conversation will take place across multiple cities, with learnings from each other. Therefore, it is proposed to hold an ‘Imagining Indian Cities’ Workshop annually in different Indian places. The first of those took place in …
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OCEN: Enabling Credit for MSMEs with Digital Public Infrastructure
The Open Credit Enablement Network (OCEN) built on open network principles, unbundles MSME lending into specialized components, creating an ecosystem where different entities excel in one specific part of the lending process. These specialized entities focus on various tasks such as sourcing, distribution, identity verification, underwriting, capital arrangement, and collections. The result? A seamless, scalable …
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A Budget with Good Intentions but lacks drive to realize Viksit Bharat & EODB
iSPIRT Foundation, a technology think-and-do tank, believes India’s hard problems can be solved only by leveraging public technology for private innovation. iSPIRT, as a think-and-do-tank, pioneered the concept of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) Industry watched and waited to see if this budget will have bold, strategic announcements with long-term vision, aiming for Viksit Bharat 2047. …
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As the AI race across the world heats up, a post: “𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐚 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐒”
To succeed at AI, we need a whole-of-nation approach involving deep-tech startups, enabling industrial policy and pre-commercial publicly-funded research. When the Biden Administration released its AI Diffusion Executive Order a few weeks back restricting GPUs to countries, it became clear that having strategic autonomy in AI was of paramount importance to India. Just being the …
Comparing Key Frameworks in the Digital Lending ecosystem: ULI, OCEN, and AA
In the evolving landscape of financial inclusion and digital lending, India has introduced several innovative frameworks designed to streamline access to credit, enhance transparency, and create seamless financial ecosystems. Among these, the Unified Lending Interface (ULI), Open Credit Enablement Network (OCEN), and Account Aggregator (AA) stand out as key initiatives aimed at modernizing the way …
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Digital Public Infrastructures
This workshop was organized by the Indian think tank iSPIRT Foundation, French Embassy in India, Consulate General of France in Bangalore, and La French Tech in India, based on the following principles: Results:
8th Open House Session- Ballon Volunteers
Thank you so much for your patience… Many of you asked when the volunteer programme would be available to apply, and here we are again. We do have some changes, though, so please pay attention. This application process will be available only for the next couple of months and close by December 20th, 2024. It’s …
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What’s India’s cultural factor that can propel us towards becoming a Product Nation?
A gathering of iSPIRT volunteers in Bangalore turned into an interesting discussion: How does India become a Product Nation by espousing values that are inherent and ingrained in us as Indians? Here are some answers from that meeting. We hope this gets you thinking on how to draw inspiration from familiar cultural concepts while building …
Budget 2024 – Empowering Startups and MSMEs, and Doubling Down on DPIs and R&D
This 2024 Budget coming post-election has aroused the most curiosity since the budget of 2014. It is for two reasons that this 2024 Budget is significant as we work towards a Product Nation: Reason 1 is for this budget’s Innovation and related public spending on private innovation and Reason 2 is for the next-generation reforms …
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Driving Financial Inclusion: Leveraging Cash Flow Lending for MSMEs | Expert Insights with Deepak Sharma
In this insightful dialogue, Sagar Parikh engages with Deepak Sharma to explore the transformative potential of cash flow lending for Indian MSMEs. Deepak underscores the significance of democratizing credit access through short-tenor and small-ticket loans, especially for micro-enterprises that comprise 99% of the MSME sector in India. Drawing from his rich experience in banking and …