A joint initiative by the High Commission of India and FICCI, the techXchange programme has grown since its launch in 2018. The programme is supported by DPIIT & Startup India. The first two editions saw the techXchange emerge as a platform to expand collaboration between startups from India & the UK. Through the program in last two years, over 35 mature Indian startups have been supported to explore the possibility to expand into the UK market.
In view of the ongoing global crisis, techXchange 2020 is being held virtually between the 26 to 30 October 2020. The programme is providing opportunities to Indian startups to meet relevant UK Government agencies, ecosystem stakeholders, research institutions & corporates amongst others. The third edition of techXchange was inaugurated earlier today in presence of dignitaries and officials from India and the UK. A report on ''Developing A Startup Ecosystem: ReThink UK’’ was also launched.
The other partners include, ICICI-UK PLC (Banking Partner), Bobble.ai (Alumni Partner), BDO LLP (Advisory Partner) CIIE.CO (Knowledge Partner), A Y & J Solicitors (Session Partner), FiveForce (Event Partner), Netsavvies (Social Media Partner).
On Monday at the virtual inaugural event Dr Guruprasad Mohapatra, Secretary, DPII highlighted that “Innovation in the startup ecosystem adds to the economic prosperity of the countries. The Startup India Initiative builds entrepreneurial skills and provides international exposure to Indian startups.’’
Charanjeet Singh, Deputy High Commissioner of India to the UK said that the UK-India tech partnership provides the global platform and market access to Indian startups. Through the techXchange program as a way forward to facilitating UK scaleups to access the Indian startup ecosystem as well.
While addressing the inaugural session Alan Gemmell OBE, Her Majesty's Trade Commissioner for South Asia and British Deputy High Commissioner for Western India shared that, “The UK-India partnership has been driving investments, supporting the job markets in both the countries and creating new avenues for economic growth especially in FinTech. The UK has emerged as the powerhouse of the European Union’s AI sector.
“Post-Brexit, the UK is going to be more willing to engage with business communities from all around the world. Capital and technology flows will strengthen the dynamic relationship for businesses to grow” highlighted Mr. Peter Cook, British Deputy High Commissioner to Gujarat and Rajasthan.
Sunil Parekh, India Co-Chair, techXchange in his opening remarks said, “techXchange reflects the change that we would like to witness in our economy by selecting deserving startups that focus on improving conditions of the society in healthcare, education, logistics, environment and handicrafts.”
Dilip Chenoy, Secretary General, FICCI during his welcome address congratulated all the Indian startups for taking the first step towards expansion in the UK and also thanked the stakeholders from the UK ecosystem for coming together to support the initiative.
This year’s cohort of 20 scaled-mature startups from Healthcare, Fintech, Education, Logistics and Supply chain, AR & VR and Manufacturing sector and Covid Champions- applications to prevents from Covid-19 will benefit from experts perspectives on the insights of the UK startups ecosystem, virtual talks from incubators of various sector, presentation of the business regions in the UK and individual sector based interaction time with our experts.
A virtual exhibition and one-on-one B2B meetings with the startups and UK-based agencies, corporates and ecosystem partners will take place over the next five days. This unique virtual experience of connecting with counterpart stakeholders will give a deeper understanding of the UK market, an occasion for partnership, investments and pitching opportunity and most importantly, an exchange of knowledge and technology.
