125+ Startups benefited from the platform

Participation from 6 state governments and 4 foreign countries

MoU signed between ICC and Innovate Durban, S. Africa

As a responsible industry body of the country, Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has always been partnering with Government of India for the cause of facilitating various developmental initiatives. “ICC India Startup Week” is one such flagship initiative of ICC to foster growth and employment for the youth in India.

This year, ICC India Startup Week was conducted virtually from 4th to 9th October, 2021.

The week-long program involved many thought provoking deliberations, exchange of ideas among the stakeholders, sharing of information, state policies, investment pitching etc. Both private and public sector players took equal part in this program and tried to take advantage of this forum.

The structure of the programme was quite comprehensive. Apart from various Indian States, some foreign countries also took part in the program with the bouquet of incentives and facilities on offer and tried to attract investment from Indian Startup community. One of the main reasons behind this may have been the fantastic resilience that Indian Startups showed against the headwinds of Covid 19. In fact the global business fraternity is now highly in favour of creating “Startup Ecosystems”, which are “Small but steady”.

“ICC India Startup Week 2021” has touched almost all the aspects of “Startup ecosystem” in India.

Starting with Fintech, Edutech and DeepTech the discussion reached the arena of HealthTech and Agri-Tech. Even relatively new areas like Defense and Construction have also come under the purview of discussion. Incubation Centres, State Investment Promotion Boards, Angel Networks, Banks, Healthcare Consultants, Academia – representatives participated from all spheres related to Startup ecosystem. There were pitching sessions by private players, Master classes by experts etc.

To sum up, the entire 6-day long programme zeroed in on to handhold Indian startups in all possible ways. In every step of forming a startup: to ideate, calculating financial requirement, sources of funds, utilizing government provided incentives, getting help of industry experts to operate with efficiency etc were all part of the discussions held.

The outcome of the programme has been really impressive in terms of some statistics. Total six (6) Indian States took part in the program (Odisha, Karnataka, Meghalaya, Uttar Pradesh, Puduchery, Kerala) along with four (4) foreign countries (South Africa, Nigeria, South Korea, Russia).

Remarkably, a MoU signed between ICC and Innovate, Durban to strengthen the bilateral relationship between India and South Africa in the sphere of Innovation, Artificial Intelligence, Startups and technology, benefitting startups of both the countries.  Total 125 Startups participated in the Pitching Sessions and more than 1000 stakeholders registered for attending the program.

Commenting on the outcome, Mr. Vikash Agarwal, President,  Indian Chamber of Commerce saod, “We think that the programme has really served its purpose. It has been a great encouraging experience to us and we hope to continue with this endeavour in future.”