High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh Pranay Verma has underlined the potential for the Bangladeshi start-ups to tap into the Indian markets, especially in the North-Eastern states of India and also benefit from the geographical proximity of the two countries.

Speaking at an interactive session held on Sunday with a group of ten Bangladeshi startups, who just returned home after completing a successful five-day visit to India from May 8-12, Verma highlighted the vibrant start-up ecosystems in both India and Bangladesh based on their growing emphasis on innovation and technology.

These ten start-up companies were part of the first set of start-ups from Bangladesh whose visits are arranged under the framework of “India-Bangladesh 50 Start-ups Exchange Programme” decided by the Prime Ministers of the two countries during their recent bilateral summits. 

During the interactive session, the start-ups outlined the utility of these entrepreneurial exchanges and expressed appreciation for the opportunity this exchange provided them to understand the Indian start-up ecosystem.

They also got an opportunity to interact with angel investors from India and discuss long-term business partnerships, reads a press statement of the High Commission of India.

The first cohort of ten Start-ups from Bangladesh that visited India included Chaldal, Grit Technologies Limited, SKOOT Ltd, Eduhive, Zantrik, Moner Bandhu, Hello Task, Prescription Bangladesh, Abedok, and My Fuel Pump Ltd.

These start-ups belong to sectors such as e-commerce, health, transport and logistics, energy, education and skill development.

During their stay, they had an opportunity to be introduced to India’s “Start-up India” initiative and participate in interactive sessions focused on establishing of a start-up and business model creation process, role of incubator, marketing of projects and services, cyber security and artificial intelligence including data protection, start-up evaluation and methods to secure funding.

This first visit of 10 Bangladeshi start-ups to India has kick-started the 50 start-ups exchange programme between India and Bangladesh, which has the potential of augmenting cooperation in new and emerging areas, cutting edge technology, entrepreneurship and innovation.

Under this programme, 50 start-ups from Bangladesh and 50 start-ups from India will exchange visits to each other’s countries for exploring partnerships, expanding business relations, sharing experience and knowledge and expanding youth and entrepreneurial cooperation.