RBIH TechSprint 2026 — Equity-Free Bank Pilot for EDD & Mule Account Detection — Frequently Asked Questions

It does not offer a cash grant. The program is built around non-monetary support — specifically an equity-free pilot opportunity with a partner bank, access to real investigation workflows and data, mentorship, networking, market access and incubation support. The value lies in getting your solution validated and deployed inside a live banking environment rather than in a cheque.

No. The TechSprint is explicitly equity-free, so no stake in your company is taken in exchange for participation. The program is positioned as a platform for deployment and collaboration rather than an investment.

Indian fintech startups that already have a working product are eligible. Your solution should be in fraud detection, transaction monitoring or account risk scoring, and it must be relevant to the EDD and mule-account detection problem statement. RBIH also looks at whether you can integrate with existing bank EDD and AML systems, and whether your team can work with real transaction and investigation workflows.

No. The TechSprint operates on a pan-India basis, so fintech startups from any region of the country can apply.

The stated eligibility criteria for this TechSprint do not include a DPIIT or MSME registration requirement. The focus is on your working product, its relevance to the problem statement, your integration capability and your team.

There is no fixed deadline. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, with intake following a cycle-based pattern that reopens with each official call, so founders are advised to confirm the current application window with the program authority before submitting.

Participants work on a defined problem statement: an intelligent pre-EDD triage engine plus a unified digital platform for EDD case management and enforcement. The system should be end-to-end and mobile-first, covering allocation, investigation, approval and CBS-integrated freeze/unfreeze, with audit trails, in-app notifications, configurable escalations and automated MIS. An AI/ML layer is expected to pull in alerts from all existing sources, de-duplicate cases, score and prioritise them, and filter false positives before a human investigator gets involved.

Shortlisted fintechs are matched with a partner bank whose EDD requirements fit their solution. Selected teams then take part in an intensive embedded sprint, working directly with that bank's EDD and fraud teams to configure, build and test their product against real investigation workflows. The program ends with a joint review of deployment outcomes, with the goal of integrating the solution into the bank's live EDD infrastructure.

The application asks for detailed information about your product, its current deployments, and your team's capabilities — particularly around fraud and transaction monitoring, and technical integration with existing bank systems. This is the material the screening committee evaluates against the problem statement and technical requirements.

Applications are submitted through RBIH's official online application portal, which you can reach from the apply link on this page. There is no cost or registration step beyond completing that form.

RBIH TechSprint 2026 — Equity-Free Bank Pilot for EDD & Mule Account Detection is offered by Reserve Bank Innovation Hub, a government body. It is provided as non-dilutive funding.