Melissa Frakman is the founder & managing partner of Emphasis Ventures (EMVC), a venture capital fund investing in early-stage fintech startups in India. She brings 15 years of experience participating in India’s digital revolution to bridge worlds for entrepreneurs and companies. Named on the “Global Fintech PowerList” by Innovate Finance, Melissa has led early stage investments in asia, supported new market strategy, and built partnerships worth over $1 billion for 15 of the Fortune 100 companies.

Follow Melissa (@melissafrakman), host Akash Bhat (@bhatvakash) and our podcast (@thedesi_vc) on Twitter.

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The Desi Startup of the Week:

Piggy: Piggy is a next generation mutual fund investment app that simplifies investments.

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In this episode, we will cover:

1. Sectors within FinTech that have stood out during the pandemic (4:12)

2. Melissa’s journey so far (5:46)

3. Why does Melissa think India has a more robust and advanced FinTech ecosystem than other markets (10:48)

4. FinTech: Bundling vs Unbundling (14:00)

5. FinTech investment trends and risks associated with investing in the space (17:04)

6. The FinTech opportunity: Urban, Middle and Rural India (19:43)

7. FinTech challenges within rural India (24:05)

8. Educating the masses: Is it the role of the govt. or startups? (25:53)

9. Innovation with UPI (28:15)

10. Assessing FinTech startups (31:16)

11. Traditional financial institutions: opportunity or threat? (35:37)

12. How does EMVC add value to their portfolio (37:58)

13. Rapid fire (40:23)

14. Ways to get in touch with Melissa (48:20)