MAM
SIDBI, MonetaGo team up to secure MSME lending
MUMBAI: When it comes to lending, trust is the best collateral. In a major move to fortify India’s MSME financing ecosystem, SIDBI (Small Industries Development Bank of India) has teamed up with MonetaGo to roll out a cutting-edge fraud prevention and digital infrastructure solution.
The partnership aims to make credit safer and smarter for India’s small businesses, ensuring they get the funds they deserve without the risk of duplicate or fraudulent financing. This marks the first time a development financial institution has adopted MonetaGo’s technology, setting a new benchmark for secure and transparent MSME lending.
SIDBI chief general manager Y. M. Kumari said the collaboration would strengthen trust in MSME credit systems, especially in initiatives like GST-Sahay invoice-based financing. “By adding transparency and resilience, we aim to boost confidence in the lending ecosystem and help unlock the sector’s full potential,” she noted.
SIDBI deputy managing director Sudatta Mandal highlighted that de-risking credit flows is key to expanding MSME access and competitiveness.
For MonetaGo, the partnership is another milestone in its mission to secure digital finance. “SIDBI’s adoption of our Secure Financing system is a turning point for fraud prevention in MSME lending,” said MonetaGo India managing director Kalyan Basu.
Since 2018, MonetaGo’s technology has underpinned India’s digital trade finance framework. Backed by the Reserve Bank of India, it has already helped MSME financing grow by over 216 per cent since 2023, proving that when finance gets smarter, small businesses grow stronger.
MAM
VML India lands two finalist spots at Cairns Hatchlings 2026
The Mumbai agency is back in Australia with two teams, a UN brief and 24 hours to impress
MUMBAI: VML India is heading to Australia again. The Mumbai-based creative agency has secured two finalist spots at the Cairns Hatchlings 2026 competition, one in the Audio category and one in Design, making it the only Indian agency to have reached the finals in both editions of the contest since its launch in 2025.
Four people will make the trip. Senior copywriter Shilpi Dey and senior art director Raj Thakkar will compete in Audio. Art directors Shabbir and Shruti Negi will go head-to-head with the world’s best in Design. The finals take place at the Cairns Convention Centre from 13th May, culminating in an awards ceremony on 15th May.
The work that got them there is worth examining. For the Audio category, Dey and Thakkar tackled a brief for LIVE LIKE MMAD with a campaign called Inner Voice, Interrupted. Using spatial audio techniques, the campaign recreates the overwhelming self-doubt that descends after a long workday, physically panning negative thoughts left and right before cutting the noise entirely to reveal a confident inner voice. Strategically targeted at commuters via Spotify during evening rush hours, the campaign reframes the hours after work as an opportunity for personal growth and charitable action.
For the Design category, Shabbir and Negi worked on a brief for Canteen’s Bandanna Day, a campaign highlighting how cancer pushes teenagers out of their own defining moments. Using a pixelated design language to create stark contrast between a blurred world of isolation and a focused world of connection, the campaign, titled The Flipside of Cancer, shows teenagers fading into the background of birthdays, skateparks and school proms. As a Canteen bandanna appears, the blur flips and the teenager snaps back into sharp focus.
Kalpesh Patankar, group chief creative officer of VML India, made no attempt to disguise his satisfaction. “We are immensely proud to see our teams consistently excel on the Cairns Hatchlings platform since its inception,” he said. “They have masterfully tackled challenging briefs across diverse categories, demonstrating both layered storytelling and a unique creative approach. This exceptional teamwork is truly inspiring.”
Dey and Thakkar, returning to the finals after last year’s run, were candid about the demands of the audio medium. “It’s one of the most demanding mediums, where we only have a few seconds to capture a listener’s world with sound alone, so absolute clarity is essential,” they said. “The true measure of creative work is its ability to create positive change, and our audio submission was made to help those who need it most while encouraging people to silence the inner voices that hold them back.”
Shabbir and Negi, competing in Design for the first time, described the experience as “a completely different beast.” “We see it as an opportunity to showcase our expertise, raise the bar, and challenge ourselves in new ways, while also learning from creative minds from across the globe,” they said.
In Australia, the four finalists will face a live 24-hour brief from the United Nations before presenting in a live pitch session. Twenty-four hours, one brief, one shot. VML India has been here before. It knows exactly what is at stake.
