techXchange, launched during the UK India Leadership Conclave in June 2018 by the High Commissioner of India to the UK, recently concluded in London. The event was well attended by stakeholders including innovative start-up entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers, foreign government officials, and industry leaders.
Recently, the High Commission of India and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI – UK), launched a series of initiatives to promote trade and investment between India and Britain. techXchange is one such significant initiative which was a result of the technology exchange programme signed between India and UK in the presence of Indian Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi and UK Prime Minister Theresa May.
In the inaugural session the High Commissioner addressed the audience to announce that this would be a year on year program.
“techXchange is the first step towards providing a concrete framework to realise the vision of both the Prime Ministers of India and UK. Through such initiatives, we aim to provide support and encouragement to young and talented minds and help them shape a better future for both countries.”, said Param Shah, Director, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry for the United Kingdom (UK).
The finely curated agenda of the event covered sessions around various themes such as the options available to Indian start-ups to set-up UK operations, government support and funding ecosystem in the UK. That apart, start-ups were allotted slots to pitch their ideas and solutions to investors and venture capitalists. Twenty-one mature start-ups from India were selected for the event.
“India is at number three in the start-up ecosystem, and we want to provide a strong platform to start-ups to help them get exposure to the latest trends in the industry and get an opportunity to pitch their ideas to potential investors. The whole agenda of techXchange revolved around these objectives”, said Sunil Parekh, India Co-Chair techXchange, Startup Ecosystem Evangelist & National Executive Committee Member, FICCI.
“It was an amazing experience to be at the event. We need more such platforms which can open up new global expansion opportunities and partnerships for Indian start-ups like us. I must thank FICCI for being a wonderful catalyst in this initiative between the two countries”, says Jose Thattil, CEO of Phi Commerce.
