World news story

Winners of UK’s start-up awards set off on a ‘Rocketship’ fuelled business trip to UK

TECH Rocketship and Dev Tech award winners from India visit the UK to learn about investment opportunities and internationalising their business.

TECH Rocketship Awards

The Department for International Trade (DIT) in India will be taking the 10 winners of their TECH Rocketship Awards and 2 winners of their Dev Tech awards to the UK, 29 January to 3 February 2017.

The TECH Rocketship Awards are aimed at fostering technology, innovation and collaboration between start-ups, universities, and industry leaders in India and in the UK. With India being the third largest investor into the UK, these awards are all about finding the future investors, and exposing them to the benefits of globalising via the UK.

The competition has enabled India’s top young entrepreneurs to raise their profile with UK and Indian investors, incubators and business hubs. Some of the winners have already received significant angel funding from businesses and venture capitalists.

Amo Kalar, Deputy Director Investment said:

We are incredibly proud and excited that our superstar TECH Rocketship winners will now get to experience their ‘grand prize’- a trip to the UK to experience what the world’s foremost business destination has to offer. The trip has been designed to put them right alongside pioneers within the UK technology and start-up scene, from incubators to funder with funders thrown in for good measure.

I know they will make the most of this once-in-a-lifetime chance to visit London, the world’s best place to set up a digital business, but also Scotland and Bristol too. I know they will make the very most of time spent with DIT’s experts and leading professional services firms who will give them the very best advice on internationalising their business through the UK.

I wish them the very best, and hope they get to experience the sights and sounds of the UK too. Who knows which big-ticket break can be round the corner!

This is the third year of the TECH Rocketship Awards, launched by Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in Mumbai in April 2016. This is the first year of the Dev Tech Awards launched in September 2016, to recognise entrepreneurs who create innovative tech-based solutions that benefit India’s poor and create a positive impact in a number of areas, including in education and agriculture.

The winners of both awards were announced at the India - UK TECH Summit, inaugurated by the British and Indian Prime Ministers in November 2016. Both the awards are looking to position the best Indian companies, with the most scalable and international-ready technologies, in front of UK and Indian venture capitalists, angel investors, and also putting top UK service providers before these Indian companies.

Indian Angel Network (IAN) has closely worked with DIT to shortlist the applications and has invested in businesses of 2 of the winners.

Saurabh Srivastava, co-founder and director of IAN said:

The Indian start-up ecosystem has witnessed a significant growth in the last few years, strengthening its position as the third largest ecosystem in the world. The TECH Rocketship Awards focuses on applauding new talents that have emerged as a game changer. Indian start-ups are breeding world class innovation catering to global markets.

DIT partnered with this Indian hotbed of innovation and entrepreneurship with IAN to build the start-up bridge between India and UK. This brings the best of both countries together and helps create a global footprint for companies. IAN applauds TRA to be the key platform to enable this bridge.

India is already the third largest investor in the UK and 50% of Indian investments into the UK are in the Tech sector, totalling £136 million. Indian companies have also emerged as the second largest job creators in the UK creating 7,105 through 140 projects.

The UK provides an excellent platform for Indian companies to grow their businesses overseas, with world leading financial and professional services and an advanced technology sector.

Further information

TECH Rocketship Award winners:

  1. BendFlex Research and Development Private Limited
  2. Cashkumar (Venture of Etyacol Technologies Pvt Ltd)
  3. Get My Parking
  4. Promethean Energy Pvt. Ltd.
  5. QuizWorks
  6. RepUp
  7. Talocity Instasolutions Private Limited
  8. Greenlit India Opto Electronics Pvt Ltd
  9. Planet Superheroes
  10. Paratus Knowledge Ventures

Dev Tech Award winners:

  1. Mother Diagnostic Systems
  2. JK Nanosolutions

For media queries, please contact:

Stuart Adam, Head,
Press and Communications
British High Commission,
Chanakyapuri, New Delhi 110021
Tel: 24192100; Fax: 24192411

Mail to: Jagori Dhar

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Published 30 January 2017