Indian embassy in US hosts mentoring program for Indian National Startup Awards 2020 finalists.
Highlighting India’s long standing relationship with Bay Area-Silicon Valley, India’s Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu has spoken of the the importance of this entrepreneurial bridge and partnership.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Silicon Valley in 2015 signified the importance of this bridge, he said speaking at the inaugural session of a mentoring program for Indian National Startup Awards 2020 finalists Tuesday
The program was co-hosted by the Indian embassy in Washington, DC, in partnership with India’s Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) and US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF).
The program is first in series of startup activities that will be organized in partnership with DPIIT and USISPF, according to a press release from the embassy.
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Giving an overview of India’s entrepreneurial eco system, Sandhu said, “today India is the third largest, startup ecosystem in the world and is home to 21 unicorns valued at $73.2 billion. By some estimates, more than 50 ‘soonicorn’ startups might join the unicorn club as early as 2022.”
Addressing the inaugural session, Anil Agrawal, DPIIT Joint Secretary spoke about Indian government’s efforts to put in place an enabling ecosystem for startups in India.
During the ‘Fireside Chat’ with Mukesh Aghi, President & CEO, USISPF, John Chambers, Founder & CEO, JC2 Ventures, and Chairman, USISPF shared his experience of working with startups.
The National Startup Awards seek to recognize and reward outstanding startups in a variety of different fields.
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Mentoring sessions during the day featured legal experts with experience in helping startups, industry leaders and venture capitalists who shared their robust experience in developing early growth in the startup process.
Participants were able to learn valuable experiences covering the entire lifecycle of the startup process as they heard experiences of CEOs with successful startups as well as experts from the venture capital arena, the embassy release said. Around 150 Indian startups attended the event.
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