Synopsis
Indian startup leaders are in the UK this week to boost AI and technology partnerships. The Startup Policy Forum's 'UK Startup Safari' aims to move the India-UK innovation corridor to action. UK Minister Kanishka Narayan highlighted the potential for new jobs and opportunities. This visit coincides with the upcoming India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement implementation.Listen to this article in summarized format
The Startup Policy Forum (SPF) said its "UK Startup Safari" was conceived to move the India-UK innovation corridor from conversation to action.
UK Minister for AI and Online Safety Kanishka Narayan joined the discussions over a punting session on the River Cam in Cambridge, on the sidelines of the Cambridge India Business Dialogue.
"Closer collaboration between our innovation and startup ecosystems holds huge potential for new jobs and opportunities for the UK and India," said Narayan.
"Working side by side, we're setting sail on a shared future of growth, where ideas, expertise and ambition flow freely between our countries," he said.
The Bihar-born Welsh minister in the UK's Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) has previously spoken about an important opportunity for both countries to become the "best places in the world for the adoption of AI".
"Few settings are more fitting for a conversation about the future of AI than the Cambridge waterways that once carried the ideas of Newton, Darwin, and Turing," said Shweta Rajpal Kohli, President and CEO of SPF.
"This Startup Safari has reinforced our conviction that the India-UK innovation corridor is ready to move from conversation to action. SPF looks forward to deepening this partnership and building a strong bridge between India and the UK's tech and policy ecosystems," she said.
The SPF describes itself as an industry alliance dedicated to advancing India's new-age economy, representing over 75 companies with a combined valuation of 100 billion dollars across sectors such as fintech, deeptech, consumer internet, and enterprise software.
Its UK delegation held a series of meetings across the London Stock Exchange, UK Parliament and High Commission of India in London. They toured innovative companies where cutting-edge innovation is taking place to explore what growing the India-UK AI collaboration corridor would involve.
The visit comes as India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) edges towards implementation, with the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) expected to boost the 48-billion-pounds worth bilateral trade by an estimated 25.5 billion pounds a year in the long run.
The SPF delegation included Sambhav Jain of Fam, Bhavik Koladiya of BharatPe and OTPLess, Satish Narayanan of SQ1 Security, Ritesh Jain of FlexiLoans, Akash Sinha of Cashfree Payments, Nitin Thakur of PRISM, Raja Ganapathy of Spring Marketing Capital, Aishwarya Malhi of Rebalance, Ashumi Sanghvi of Future+, Samridhi Shoor of Aegion and Atul Gupta of BBBS.
