With hopes of renewing funding for the Modi government's Startup India scheme, the NITI Aayog have organised a three day symposium with venture capital funds in the capital.
The symposium, organised jointly by NITI Aayog along with Vision India Foundation, also seeks to deepen the economic relationships between France and India.
"Following the visit of French President Emmanuel Macron, 20 of the biggest French venture capital and private equity funds are coming to India to explore investment opportunities," said a NITI Aayog official, after the first of the three day symposium.
French investors are likely to interact with 100 early to mid-stage Indian startups over the course of the next two days. The inaugural session was attended by Indian and foreign venture capital funds. Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, along with Atul Chaturvedi, Additional Secretary, DIPP addressed the session.
Alexandre Ziegler, Ambassador of France to India and Yves Jego, Vice-President of French Parliament, also attended the inaugural session.
In his address, Kant focussed on the Indian startup ecosystem and also showcased India’s entrepreneurial might and the strides taken in innovation for solving the many challenges faced by the country.
He urged the investors to focus on India, not just to target one billion people but to build solutions in India for the seven billion strong global market. "India has the ‘3D advantage’ of demographic dividend, demand and democracy," Kant said addressing the venture capital fund representatives.
The event was attended by various investors from France including Safran Ventures, Eren Group, Luxury Tech, Fahsion Capital, Educlever, Olymp Capital, Affectio Familiae, Brands and beyond, Galileo Partners, Winevestworld, TNP and Claranova among others.
Four investor groups – Eren Group, Claranova, Olymp Capital and TNP – made announcements of setting up offices in India and commitments to invest in various sectors such as energy, aerospace, blockchain and Internet of Things, NITI Aayog said in a statement issued later.
DIPP additional secretary Chaturvedi said that the three-day event facilitates interactions between French investors, Indian investors, Indian startups and critical government functionaries.
The Venture Capital Symposium 2018 aims to support the Startup India programme that was launched by the prime minister of India, Chaturvedi said.
Yves Jego, vice president French Parliament, said, “This collaboration is not only a business participation of French capital in India, but it will prove to be a long term partnership between the organisations of the two countries.”
"Not only do we invest in India, not only do we Make in India, but we Innovate in India," Jego said, addressing the symposium, also attended by startups and number of important government functionaries.
To convince the foreign venture capital funds further, Chaturvedi highlighted a plethora of initiatives undertaken by the government for improving ease of doing business in India.
Chaturvedi said that the Narendra Modi government seeks to create an enabling ecosystem for startups in India and to attract flow of foreign capital to India.