It has been requested to participate in the Startup Mahakumbh to be held next April in New Delhi, India and look for new opportunities. In an event organized by the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu on Friday in preparation for the second edition of 'India-Nepal Startup Connect: Startup Mahakumbh (SMK) 2025', the representatives of the Government of Nepal and India mentioned that both countries are good markets for startups in India and Nepal.
More than 10,000 startups and 1,000 investors will participate in Startup Mahakumbh, said Sanjeev Kumar, joint secretary of India's Department of Industry Promotion and Internal Trade. According to him, the latest business initiatives and projects in various fields including digital financial technology, artificial intelligence, cyber security, climate tech, agricultural technology, health services will be displayed. In addition, he said, thematic rooms related to DTC, Deeptech, space technology, precision manufacturing, gaming, esports, sports technology, biotech will be kept.
As part of the Startup Mahakumbha, the Embassy hopes that the India-Nepal Startup Connect event will provide an opportunity for Nepali startups to connect with Indian investment and technology. In the event, Navin Srivastava, the Indian Ambassador to Nepal, highlighted the changes brought about by the startup culture in India in the economic and technological sectors and discussed the opportunities for cooperation with Nepal.
Nepali startups are doing well, especially in the fields of economic technology, transportation, e-commerce,' Srivastava said, 'More than 100 startups in India have become very successful, i.e. unicorns.' Srivastava mentioned the fact that the Indian government is actively supporting the startups of his country and also said that the possibility of cooperation between the startups of the two countries is increasing.
Mentioning that the development of digital public infrastructure has played a role in the digital transformation of India, he gave an example of the ease of border payment due to the interconnection between Nepal's PhonePay and India's UPI. He said that the cross-border communication between such infrastructures will help to get more dividends from them. Prithvi Subba Gurung, the Minister of Communication and Information Technology as the chief guest at the
ceremony said that the latest technologies are being used for the promotion of startups in Nepal and expressed the opinion that the strong relationship between Nepal and India will further strengthen the business cooperation. Urging Nepali companies to participate in SMK 2025, he also encouraged startups to find new opportunities. Rajendra Mutha, head of IIT Madras promoter said that Nepali startups can benefit from the capital, consulting and networking available from India. The
program discussed the opportunities brought by emerging technologies for startups and the role of digital public infrastructure for social impact. Prashant Mishra, head of Tech XR, spoke about how they were able to create a new tourism experience due to virtual reality. Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli's information technology advisor Asghar Ali gave information about citizen apps in Nepal, while Amit Agarwal, founder of Khalti Wallet, shed light on digital payments in Nepal.
Educated Bhatt told his initiatives about Nepal's digital public infrastructure. Nileshman Pradhan of Nepal Clearing House pointed out that there are innovative digital areas for fintech companies like Nepal Page. Balakrishna Bal, associate dean of Kathmandu University, said that he is encouraging his students to build digital public goods. Himanshu Tiwari of Schoolnet AVP shared the experience of education DPI like 'Deeksha' in India.
