India’s top tech start-ups battle to win Tech Rocketship Awards
Ten winners of the Tech Rocketship Awards will win an all expenses paid business development trip to the UK.
The competition is a GREAT for Collaboration initiative.
The Tech Rocketship Awards is an initiative by the UK’s Department of International Trade (DIT) in India, aimed at identifying India’s top young entrepreneurs and providing them with expert business advice and support to help them go global through the UK.
This year’s awards were launched in April by Their Royal Highnesses, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at a high profile business event in Mumbai. Now in its third year, the competition has had a record number of applications with over 600 start-ups vying to be one of ten winners of an all expenses paid business development trip to the UK.
Thirty-six young entrepreneurs have been shortlisted from over 600 quality applications. Through the course of this month, these shortlisted applicants will battle it out in front of a live audience and panel of esteemed judges across four cities in India: Bengaluru, New Delhi, Pune and Chennai.
Kumar Iyer, Director General of Department of International Trade, India said:
We are really excited by both the staggering level and extremely high quality of the entries this year. It clearly demonstrates the immense talent that India has! The UK is open for business like never before and we are looking for the next batch of leading Indian young entrepreneurs who have the potential to be globally successful. The Tech Rocketship Awards provide an excellent platform for Indian entrepreneurs to grow their business overseas by using the UK as a springboard. We wish the competitors the very best!
Indian Angel Network (IAN) has closely worked with UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) to shortlist the applications.
Saurabh Srivastava, Co-founder and Director of IAN said:
I appreciate the vision of the UK government, which is aligned with ours. I am delighted to be a part of this program which will help create wealth for entrepreneurs and investors, drive economic growth in the region and build another track of early stage ventures between India and UK. This platform not only provides an opportunity for Indian entrepreneurs to network and identify trade opportunities, but also gives the UK based investors an access to the pool of India’s most innovative businesses.
The competition will enable India’s top young entrepreneurs to raise their profile with UK and Indian investors. The ten most promising businesses will win a week-long business trip to the UK. There they will experience the UK’s world-leading tech ecosystem first hand, meeting with UK venture capitalists, mentors, entrepreneurs and incubators, as well as experts from DIT and leading professional services firms who will guide them on how to establish a firm footing abroad.
This year’s high profile judges include Anand Mahindra, T.V. Mohandas Pai of Aarin Capital, Saurabh Srivastava of the Indian Angel Network, self-made entrepreneur Kiran Mazumdar Shaw and young entrepreneur Shradha Sharma of YourStory, a leading tech media platform.
Department of International Trade’s Global Dealmaker Alpesh Patel and Technology specialist John Kat will join the Indian panel to judge the business ideas of the best tech start-up during the pitching sessions in the four Indian cities.
One winner will be selected from each of five categories – cleantech, edtech, fintech, medtech and smart manufacturing - and a further five winners will be selected under the ‘Judges’ Awards’ section, from any sector. The final 10 winners will be announced at the India-UK TECH Summit in New Delhi in November 2016. The competition is a GREAT for Collaboration initiative, seeking to form a lasting partnership between India’s fast-growing start-ups and UK financing and support for entrepreneurs.
TECH Rocketships pitching session dates:
| Bengaluru | The Social, Church Street | 5 August 2016 | 09:30hrs – 13:30hrs |
| New Delhi | The Social, Hauz Khas Village | 10 August 2016 | 09:30hrs – 13:30hrs |
| Pune | Stone Water Grill, Koregaon Park (Adjacent to Hard Rock Cafe) | 19 August 2016 | 15:30hrs – 20:00hrs |
| Chennai | Gatsby 2000, Crowne plaza, 132 TTK Road, Chennai - 600018 | 26 August 2016 | 09:30hrs – 13:30hrs |
Read more: A Rocketship-fuelled business trip to the UK
Tech Rocketship Awards partners:
Further information
GREAT for Collaboration: Launched by Indian Prime Minister Modi and former British Prime Minister Cameron the campaign celebrates and drives trade and investment partnerships between India and the UK and showcases the great things the UK and India do together.
- the UK has been a popular destination for Indian investments for over 100 years
- in 2014-15, the UK won a record number of inward investment projects and maintains position as top investment destination in Europe
- India emerged as Britain’s third biggest job creator in 2014 as the country saw a 65% increase in foreign direct investments (FDI) from India. In 2014-2015 Indian investments in 122 FDI projects created 7,730 new jobs and safeguarded 1,620 jobs in the UK
- the UK is best place in the world to do research, innovate and grow your business
- the UK is the 5th largest economy in the world and has the lowest corporation tax in the G20 gateway
- it takes only 13 days to set up a business in the UK, compared with the world average of 35 days
- the UK is ranked 2nd globally innovation and 6th for ease of doing business
- the total number of people in the UK employed by Indian companies has increased by 10 per cent: from 1,00,000 in 2014 to nearly 1,10,000. (Grant Thornton)
- ICT, Advanced Engineering and Life Sciences are among key sectors for investment from India.
Find out why the UK is the most attractive overseas business destination.
For media queries, please contact:
Stuart Adam, Head,
Press and Communications
British High Commission, Chanakyapuri
New Delhi 110021
Tel: 44192100; Fax: 24192411
Mail to: Jagori Dhar
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Last updated 8 August 2016 + show all updates
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