India and Israel strengthen bond between their startup ecosystem
I2I, initiated by Consulate General of Israel to South India, helps identify Indian startups in advanced technologies to enhance cooperation between the ecosystems.
India and Israel have started to forge closer ties and the same has started to happen with the respective startup ecosystems as well. To further strengthen these ties, the Consulate General of Israel to South India, along with Intel India, Nasscom, and Accenture Ventures, held a startup “Pitching Contest” in Bengaluru.
The contest identified innovative Indian technology startups that can benefit from engaging with the Israeli startup ecosystem, for R&D collaboration and go-to-market. The pitching contest focussed on startups in the fields of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Vision Computing, and the ones that raised half a million dollars in funding and have at least two market deployments.
The startups were nominated by corporate accelerators/incubators, venture capital funds, and industry associations such as NASSCOM, Intel India, Accenture Venture, Airbus, Target Accelerator, and more.
Ariel Seidman, Deputy Consul General, Consulate General of Israel to South India (Centre) with Ranjan Kumar, founder, Entropik Technologies (right) and Dr Shai Moses – Trade and Economy, Consul General of Israel.
Ariel Seidman, Deputy Consul General, Consulate General of Israel to South India, said, “Platforms like this pitching contest give opportunities for the ecosystems and startups of both our nations to collaborate and grow together, further strengthening the relationship between India and Israel.”
The winner of this pitching contest was Entropik Technologies, which won a paid trip to Israel to attend the DLD Innovation Festival 2019, held in Tel Aviv on 18th and 19th of September, 2019, sponsored by the Consulate.
The winner will also get the chance to pitch at an Indo-Israeli event on the sidelines of the DLD. The top three winners won access to Intel India Maker Lab and Accenture Ventures Platform.
DLD Innovation Festival 2019 is the largest hi-tech conference in Israel. Thousands of hi-tech professionals, entrepreneurs, and investors from Israel and abroad gather for the international festival and conference dealing with innovation, digital media, science and culture.
The conference aims to lay the groundwork for future innovations and technological developments, offering technology companies in the global hi-tech industry a platform for exchanging opportunities and networking.
In 2018, the Consulate General of Israel to South India signed two MoUs, with Intel India, and with Accenture & Nasscom, to drive innovation and technology development by connecting startups and enterprises of both countries. This pitching contest was the continuation of the previous contests, where the winners, Detect Technologies & Cyclops MedTech received paid trip to Israel to attend the DLD Innovation Festival.
(Edited by Saheli Sen Gupta)
