techXchange, London Generates Tremendous Response from India and UK Start-up Community

PUNE 04 AUG 2018: TechXchange, launched during the UK India Leadership Conclave in June 2018 by the High
Commissioner of India to the UK, recently concluded in London. The event was well
attended by stakeholders including innovative start-up entrepreneurs, investors,
policymakers, foreign government officials, and industry leaders.
Recently, the High Commission of India and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce
and Industry (FICCI – UK), launched a series of initiatives to promote trade and investment
between India and Britain. techXchange is one such significant initiative which was a result
of the technology exchange programme signed between India and UK in the presence of
Indian Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi and UK Prime Minister Theresa May.

In the inaugural session the High Commissioner addressed the audience to announce that
this would be a year on year program.

“TechXchange is the first step towards providing a concrete framework to realize the vision
of both the Prime Ministers of India and UK. Through such initiatives, we aim to provide
support and encouragement to young and talented minds and help them shape a better
future for both countries.”, said Param Shah, Director, Federation of Indian Chambers of
Commerce and Industry for the United Kingdom (UK).

The finely curated agenda of the event covered sessions around various themes such as the
options available to Indian start-ups to set-up UK operations, government support and
funding ecosystem in the UK. That apart, start-ups were allotted slots to pitch their ideas
and solutions to investors and venture capitalists. Twenty-one mature start-ups from India
were selected for the event.
“India is at number three in the start-up ecosystem, and we want to provide a strong
platform to start-ups to help them get exposure to the latest trends in the industry and get
an opportunity to pitch their ideas to potential investors. The whole agenda of techXchange
revolved around these objectives”, said Sunil Parekh, India Co-Chair techXchange, Startup
Ecosystem Evangelist & National Executive Committee Member, FICCI.

“It was an amazing experience to be at the event. We need more such platforms which can
open up new global expansion opportunities and partnerships for Indian start-ups like us. I
must thank FICCI for being a wonderful catalyst in this initiative between the two
countries”, says Jose Thattil, CEO of Phi Commerce.

“It was a brilliant event. What I liked about it is that the sessions covered key practical
advice from the experts about doing business in the UK. The opportunities to pitch to
investors was a great initiative as it helped start-ups in not only getting in front of targeted
investors but also helped them in getting their ideas validated by these investors”, said
Daniel David Raj, CEO of Detect Technologies.