The governments of Nepal and India on Wednesday organised the third edition of an international entrepreneurship conclave here to support innovative start-ups. The conclave was inaugurated by Minister for Information and Communication Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, who was also the chief guest. India’s Ambassador to Nepal Vinaya Mohan Kwatra was also present. Business ideas were presented by Boa Fresh, Tekka, Saarang and Veda start-ups. The main objective of the conclave was to support the young entrepreneurial community of Nepal and India, and thereby create a platform for exchange of ideas for entrepreneurs and start-ups, according to a statement by the Indian Embassy. "The conclave aims to build an ideal link between the dynamic start-up ecosystems of Nepal and India," according to Dilli Raj Joshi, Director of Clock-b Business Innovations.
According to Binay Devkota, CEO of Clock-b Business Innovations, the conclave was rolled out through three phases - pre-incubation, incubation and finale day. "To enhance the start-up ecosystems of Nepal and India, we commenced the pre-incubation phase in December last year that dealt with a nationwide ideation tour, calls for application and selection of start-ups especially focused on Dang, Sarlahi, Dharan, Sunsari," Devkota said. Following this, the second step was an incubation programme where 20 start-ups were selected out of the 80 applicants. Over a nine-day period, these selected start-ups were mentored and trained. Out of the selected 20, only top four start-ups have advanced to the final day after being selected from Idea Audition. The conclave comprised keynote addresses by start-up aspirants from Nepal and India, panel discussions, experience-sharing from renowned entrepreneurs of both nations, start-up story-telling and an investment pitch to a panel of prospective investors by the shortlisted entrepreneurs.
PTI INPUTS
