The second day of Global Fintech Fest 2026 brought a sharper view of where India’s digital economy could be headed next. If the first day was about setting the tone, Day 2 was about putting some of those ambitions into motion.
Artificial intelligence, UPI, tokenisation and digital financial infrastructure emerged as recurring themes across the event, with regulators, banks and fintech companies exploring how emerging technology can become part of everyday financial experiences.
At the same time, the broader startup ecosystem had plenty to keep an eye on — from RentoMojo’s IPO gaining traction to Swish securing fresh capital and VinFast rethinking its India strategy.
AI Moves Closer To The Consumer
One of the strongest themes at GFF 2026 was the evolution of AI from a back-end technology into a consumer-facing layer.
RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra unveiled UPI Tap & Pay, enabling users with NFC-enabled smartphones to make payments by tapping their devices at compatible point-of-sale terminals.
He also introduced MyUPI, an AI-powered interface aimed at bringing transactions together into a more unified consumer experience.
The larger shift is significant. UPI has already become an integral part of India’s payments infrastructure. The next phase could see the platform becoming more intelligent — helping users interact with, understand and manage their financial activity rather than simply facilitating transactions.
But the technology push came with a clear reminder: innovation cannot come at the cost of trust.
Malhotra called on fintech companies to ensure that AI addresses real consumer and business needs, particularly beyond India’s largest cities. MSMEs and consumers in smaller towns, he noted, will be an important part of the next phase of financial inclusion.
For an ecosystem that has often celebrated speed, the message was equally about responsibility — particularly when financial data and automated decision-making are involved.
Fintech’s AI Stack Gets More Ambitious
The AI conversation was visible across several announcements at the event.
Mahindra Finance expanded its voice-AI deployment with Sarvam, while Yes Bank and Open introduced an agentic layer designed to reduce payment failures.
Elsewhere, Navi and IndusInd Bank announced efforts to strengthen UPI-processing infrastructure, while Gnani AI introduced Artha, a sovereign agentic AI platform designed for the BFSI ecosystem.
Taken together, these developments point towards a broader change in financial services.
The question is no longer whether banks and fintech companies will use AI. It is increasingly about where AI sits inside the financial journey — from customer interaction and transaction processing to risk management and decision-making.
Tokenisation Moves Into The Spotlight
Alongside AI, tokenisation emerged as another major theme at GFF 2026.
The Reserve Bank of India and SEBI announced plans for a framework around tokenised corporate bonds, signalling growing regulatory attention towards digital representations of financial assets.
The conversation around tokenisation has also moved beyond the technology itself.
Nandan Nilekani highlighted the potential of tokenised assets and AI agents to broaden access to credit, while pointing towards startups and smaller businesses as important drivers of employment in an AI-led economy.
For India, the opportunity lies in combining its existing digital public infrastructure with newer technologies that can make financial assets more accessible, programmable and easier to transact.
RentoMojo’s IPO Finds Investor Appetite
Away from the conference floor, the public markets offered another important signal of investor interest in India’s new-age businesses.
RentoMojo’s ₹1,256 crore IPO was subscribed 4.71 times by the second day of bidding, with bids coming in for around 10.25 crore shares against approximately 2.18 crore shares on offer.
Non-institutional investors were particularly active, subscribing to their portion 11.6 times, while the retail category was subscribed 4.19 times. The qualified institutional buyer portion, meanwhile, stood at 0.45 times at that stage.
The IPO consists of a ₹150 crore fresh issue and an offer-for-sale component of around ₹1,105.6 crore. At the upper end of its ₹384–₹404 price band, the Bengaluru-based rental company is valued at roughly ₹4,206 crore.
The public issue marks an important moment for the rental economy as RentoMojo looks to become India’s first listed furniture rental company. The company operates across furniture and household appliances through subscription-led rental models and has built a sizeable retail footprint across Indian cities.
Its strong opening response also arrives at an interesting point for India’s IPO market, where investors are increasingly evaluating new-age companies not only on growth but also on profitability and the durability of their business models.
Swish Raises $24 Mn As Quick Commerce Gets More Nuanced
The funding ecosystem also remained active.
Quick food delivery startup Swish raised around ₹228 crore, or approximately $24 million, in a round led by Bertelsmann India Investments.
The Bengaluru- and Delhi NCR-focused startup, founded in 2024, operates a network of company-owned kitchens and manages its last-mile delivery operations. It currently offers around 250 products and plans to use the fresh capital to expand its kitchen network, enter additional cities and strengthen its supply chain.
Swish now counts $78 million in total funding.
The timing, however, makes the fundraise particularly interesting.
Ultra-fast food delivery remains one of the more closely watched categories in India’s consumer internet market, with questions around margins, fulfilment economics and operational intensity still hanging over the sector.
Swish’s expansion plans therefore represent not just another funding story, but another test of whether speed-led food delivery can evolve into a sustainable consumer business.
VinFast Looks To Build For India, Not Just Sell In India
The automotive landscape also saw an interesting development, with Vietnamese EV maker VinFast reportedly exploring two electric vehicles specifically designed for the Indian market.
The models, internally referred to as VF X and VF Y, are being discussed with Indian suppliers and could represent a shift in the company’s approach to the country.
The more affordable of the two is expected to be positioned below the $12,000 mark.
The move comes amid recent uncertainty around VinFast’s manufacturing plans in India. The company has clarified that its Thoothukudi facility will continue CKD assembly operations.
Developing models specifically for Indian consumers could nevertheless signal a more localised approach — one where product design, pricing and supply chains are built around the realities of the Indian market.
Beco Faces A Legal Roadblock In HUL Advertising Dispute
The D2C ecosystem also saw its share of action.
The Delhi High Court has restrained home-care brand Beco from continuing an advertising campaign that compared its cleaning products with HUL’s Surf Excel and Vim.
The court observed that Beco had not established the truth of the message conveyed through the campaign and directed the company to remove and recall the advertisements carrying the disputed claims.
The order is interim, with the matter yet to reach a final determination.
The episode once again highlights the increasingly competitive environment in India’s D2C market, where challenger brands are looking for sharper ways to differentiate themselves from established consumer giants.
Theater Bets On Physical Retail
Fashion and accessories brand Theater has raised around $7.8 million in a Series A round led by Niveshaay.
The company plans to use the fresh capital to expand its physical retail presence across Tier I and Tier II cities.
Founded in 2021, Theater operates across categories including footwear, stockings, perfumes and bags, with a focus on cruelty-free products. The company says it has grown eightfold over the last two years.
Its retail expansion reflects a broader shift taking place across India’s D2C landscape.
After years of prioritising digital acquisition and ecommerce-led growth, a growing number of consumer brands are beginning to view physical stores as an important part of the brand-building equation.
For these companies, offline retail is not necessarily a replacement for ecommerce. Instead, it is becoming another way to create discovery, build trust and deepen the customer relationship.
The Bigger Picture
What made Day 2 of GFF 2026 particularly interesting was the contrast between ambition and execution.
AI is moving deeper into financial products. Tokenisation is finding a place in regulatory conversations. UPI is evolving beyond payments. Startups are raising capital even in categories where profitability remains closely scrutinised. And companies entering India are increasingly being pushed towards localised strategies.
The common thread is scale.
India’s next fintech chapter may not be defined by one breakthrough product. Instead, it could emerge from the convergence of digital infrastructure, intelligent interfaces, programmable assets and businesses capable of translating technology into everyday value.
At GFF 2026, that future did not feel distant. It was already being built — one payment, product and platform at a time.
-By Muskan Dengra
