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While consumer fintech continues to dominate headlines (sometimes for the wrong reasons), it’s B2B players that are quietly reshaping India’s financial system. By digitising workflows, streamlining high-volume transactions, and embedding compliance within enterprise rails, this segment is poised to deliver structural, long-term value to financial institutions, corporates, and MSMEs.

This moment presents a turning point: public infrastructure is maturing, compliance is tightening, and enterprise adoption is accelerating.

According to a recent report by Chiratae Ventures and The Digital Fifth, India’s B2B fintech market is projected to reach $20 Bn by 2030. Despite a broader funding dip — from $4.8 Bn in 2022 to $2.3 Bn in 2022 — B2B fintechs attracted over $500 Mn, reflecting investor confidence in infrastructure-first plays.

To unlock the next decade of growth in financial services, founders and investors must build around three pillars: reliability, integration, and compliance.

• Lending Infrastructure Must Be Built Around Risk, Not Speed: Digital lending for MSMEs cannot rely on vanilla automation. Platforms must assess full business profiles—including cash flows, receivables, and vendor relationships. Lending is easy; collection isn’t. Without robust risk monitoring, even high-growth books can collapse. Agentic AI tools that blend speed with compliant underwriting will be crucial to bridging the credit gap and earning regulator trust. Players like Perfios, CRIF, and Knight Fintech are building actively in this space.
• Legacy Core Systems Must Evolve To Microservices & Cloud-Native Architectures: Monolithic tech stacks can’t support the pace of product iteration needed today. Microservices and cloud-native infrastructure allow real-time updates, deeper integrations, and easier scalability. Builders must prioritise secure migration paths; investors should seek teams with proven client stickiness and strong implementation expertise.
• System Stability > Cosmetic Design: Institutional stakeholders care less about UI aesthetics and more about whether a system integrates seamlessly, handles scale, and remains stable. Surface-level enhancements are no substitute for underlying reliability.
  
• Agentic AI Will Drive Front-End Sales Productivity: FIs serving SME, corporate, and wealth segments are adopting AI tools that reduce customer acquisition costs (CAC) and improve lead conversion. Expect a wave of investment in channel productivity software models like Finstinct.ai and Vymo that enhance human output while preserving compliance workflows.

• Trade Finance Must Extend Across The Supply Chain: —from document automation to connecting buyers, banks, and freight agents. Export-heavy sectors need platforms that reduce settlement delays, resolve disputes faster, and plug into customs and logistics. Veefin is already enabling PSU banks in this domain.
• Payment Systems Must Plug Into Treasury: Modern enterprise payment platforms now enable reconciliation, access control, audit trails, and real-time liquidity dashboards. CFOs are championing solutions like Cashfree, Transbank, and RazorpayX, not just for disbursements, but for real-time visibility into financial operations.
  

• India’s Regulatory Diversity Demands Customised Solutions: Unlike global peers, India’s regulatory landscape is fragmented. MSME-focused fintechs must account for GST, alternate credit scoring, and varying digital maturity across sectors. Builders who localise at scale will create defensible moats.
• RegTech Is Core Infrastructure, Not A Feature: As scrutiny rises, RegTech solutions like Finnulate.ai that automate KYC, real-time monitoring, and reporting are no longer optional. AI can help cut down manual compliance work and errors. Investors must evaluate regulatory automation not as mere ancillary tools, but as system-critical layers.

• SME Platforms: MSMEs still lack tools to manage digital payments, credit access, and payroll. Gen AI workflows integrated with digital public infrastructure (GSTN, UPI, etc.) are well-positioned to deliver value at scale.
• Embedded Finance: With ONDC and other open digital networks expanding, fintech tools embedded into procurement, HRMS, or logistics workflows will benefit from network effects and high transaction relevance.
• Cross-Border Finance: Players like Skydo and TazaPay aim to simplify global payments, FX, tax compliance, and risk and could gain significant traction as Indian businesses go global.
• AI-powered Decision Support: Forecasting, cost modelling, and analytics tools will find early adoption in mid-to-large enterprises grappling with margin pressures and volatility.

According to Inc42, plunged 19% to $2.5 Bn in 2024 compared to $3.1 Bn in the year-ago period. This correction has sharpened investor focus on core use cases, monetisation, and integration strength. B2B founders should prepare for longer diligence cycles and tighter scrutiny on retention and unit economics.

B2B fintech is no longer operating in the shadows — it’s now the critical layer of India’s financial stack. The right to win lies not in buzzwords but in platforms that deliver predictable ROI, regulatory resilience, and minimal switching friction, not vanity growth at all costs.

It’s time for venture capital to flow into infrastructure-grade applications, not just distribution hacks. The next decade will reward those who design with discipline, deliver with precision, and navigate slow sales cycles with conviction.

Of course, in financial services, execution trumps all. Vision is essential, but only those who deliver consistently, stay compliant, and build lasting customer trust will endure.

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