Overwhelming Response to “Start-up India” Investment Seminar organized by the Embassy of India in Beijing
To give impetus to the ‘Start-up India’ Initiative launched by the Government of India, the Embassy of India co-organized and hosted a ‘Indian Start-up Investment Seminar’ bringing together around 20 Indian start-ups and more than a hundred Chinese investors under one roof at the auditorium of the Embassy. Organizing partners for the event included Startup India Association, Venture Gurukool and Sino Global Capital Limited. The main objective for organizing this event was to highlight the potential of Indian Start-ups and the investment opportunities presented by the rapid growth of Start-ups in India.
Speaking on the occasion, Charge d’Affaires Mr. Amit Narang highlighted the big jump of 30 places achieved by India in one year in the Ease of Doing Business Ranking released by World Bank recently. Calling this achievement the spirit of a ‘New India’, he called-on to Chinese investors to look at India as an unrivalled economic opportunity. He urged the Indian Start-ups to also look eastwards towards China not just for capital, but for innovation and experience-sharing to realize future growth. Noting the parallels in India and China on their entrepreneurial energy, Cd’A urged the innovators of both sides to look at each other as partners in co-producing innovation and value for both India and China and thus boosting India-China cooperation in new tech.
Delivering his keynote address on ‘Why Invest in India,’ Mr. Benny Chen, CEO, Managing Director India and Global Strategic Alliance, Ant Financial emphasized that he remains bullish on the explosive growth in mobile and internet penetration in India and positively appraised the various initiatives taken by the Government of India to stimulate faster growth.
The event also had representatives of Invest India, KPMG India and Khaitan & Co. give presentations on ‘The Economic and Investment Landscape in India’, ‘The India growth Story and Rise of the Indian Entrepreneurs’ and ‘Regulatory Landscape and Investment Structure in India’ respectively. Mr. Mahendra Swarup, President, Start-up India Association spoke about Chinese Investments in Indian ventures and introduced the various Start-ups from India that participated in the event.
Two panel discussions on ‘Strategy for Investing in India- Experience Sharing by Successful Investors’ and ‘Experience Sharing on the Scaling-Up of Chinese Ventures’ were also organized as part of the event, with a number of prospective Chinese investors asking detailed questions to distinguished panelists including Mr. Benny Chen, CEO and MD India, Ant Financial, Ms. Shirley Mao, Vice Director, Xiaomi Investment, and others.
The event got an overwhelming response with more than 150 Chinese investors and 20 Indian Start-ups attending. The event is expected to generate more in-depth B2B discussions among Indian Start-ups and Chinese investors which will hopefully lead to productive business ventures and Chinese investments in Indian start-ups.