Central Depository Services (India) Limited (“CDSL”), Asia’s first listed depository and the trusted custodian of 19+ crore demat accounts, launched Reimagine Ideathon 2.0, inviting students across India to develop innovative solutions that can strengthen financial awareness and cyber safety for an investor base that is becoming more diverse and increasingly digital.
Launched during World Investor Week 2026, being observed in India under the theme ‘Samajh Se Investing Simple’, the Ideathon complements the investor awareness and education objectives of SEBI’s Project Jagrook, which brings together SEBI and Securities Market Partners, including CDSL, to strengthen financial literacy, promote informed investment practices and increase awareness around financial fraud. At the heart of Samajh Se Investing Simple is the idea that an educated investor is an empowered investor — and that investor awareness is most effective when information is communicated in a manner, language and format that investors can understand and relate to. Reimagine Ideathon 2.0 brings this approach to life by inviting students to develop innovative ways of making financial awareness and cyber-safety education more accessible, relevant and engaging for students, first-time investors and senior citizens.
According to SEBI’s Investor Survey 2025, around 3.21 crore households, or 9.5% of India’s estimated 33.72 crore households, are invested in securities market products, while 63% of households are aware of at least one such product. This gap between awareness and participation highlights the need to translate awareness into meaningful understanding and informed participation. With India’s demat account base having crossed 23 crore, the scale of participation in the securities market has expanded significantly. At the same time, government data shows that ₹22,495 crore was reportedly lost to cyber fraud in 2025, with 76% of the reported financial losses attributed to fake investment and trading scams. Together, these trends underline the growing need for both financial understanding and digital safety.
Shri Nehal Vora, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, CDSL, said, “India has made significant progress in expanding access to the securities market. The next step is to deepen understanding by empowering investors to evaluate information and participate with greater confidence. The focus of SEBI’s Project Jagrook and the ‘Samajh Se Investing Simple’ campaign on making investor education simple, accessible and relevant is an important step in this direction. At CDSL, we have also been exploring innovative ways to make investor education more engaging and relatable, including through our partnership with Amar Chitra Katha to take investor awareness to younger audiences. An Atmanirbhar investor should be able to assess and verify information, recognise risks and rewards, and make informed decisions with confidence. Reimagine Ideathon 2.0 gives students and future market participants an opportunity to be part of this journey and bring their perspectives to how we build a more aware, responsible and inclusive investor ecosystem.”
The Reimagine Ideathon also complements SEBI’s Mentoring of University/College Students by Trainers (MUST) initiative, which seeks to strengthen financial literacy and securities market awareness among students. While MUST focuses on taking structured financial education to university and college campuses through trained Partner Trainers, Reimagine Ideathon 2.0 encourages students themselves to contribute ideas and solutions for making investor education more engaging, accessible and relevant to their generation.
Participants are free to choose the format, technology, delivery model or approach best suited to their proposed solution, including digital platforms, mobile applications, websites, chatbots, games, simulations, learning modules, awareness campaigns, community models or AI-enabled assistants, among others. Submissions will be evaluated by a multi-disciplinary jury on parameters including innovation, user experience, impact and usefulness, feasibility, scalability, accessibility, data protection and clarity of presentation. The jury will be chaired by Shri S. Ramadorai, whose distinguished career spans leadership in business, public policy and institution-building, including serving as CEO and MD of TCS, Chairperson of BSE, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Skill Development, and currently Chairperson of Karmayogi Bharat. Registrations are open from October 7, 2026, with a total prize pool of ₹11.5 lakh for the top five teams. Reimagine Ideathon 2.0 builds on the success of CDSL’s inaugural Reimagine Ideathon, which received over 1,000 registrations from nearly 100 institutions across 21 States and 2 Union Territories, with five teams recognised for their ideas at the Third CDSL Annual Reimagine Symposium.