Kathmandu, Jan. 30: The valediction ceremony of the 1st cohort of the India-Nepal Startup Partnership Network (IN-SPAN) consisting of 24 Nepali startups was held today in Chennai at IIT Madras. Munu Mahawar, Additional Secretary (North), Ministry of External Affairs was the Chief Guest at the event.

IN-SPAN featured an eight-week, fully-funded training and innovation program at IIT Madras, delivered in collaboration with IIT Madras Pravartak Technologies Foundation. IIT Madras Pravartak  has incubated 46 startups out of which 14 have successfully commercialized their technologies.

Speaking at the ceremony, Munu Mahawar thanked the IIT Madras ecosystem for hosting the first cohort and congratulated the participants, noting that this initiative would take forward India-Nepal startup collaboration. 

Yunika Bajracharya, Founder of Edavor and Asim Shrestha, Founder of Edtraa, shared feedback on behalf of the cohort. They said that the programme exceeded their expectations and they proposed that the learnings from the programme could be institutionalized by establishing an IIT Madras Pravartak Centre of Excellence in Nepal. 

Prof Mangala Sundar, Professor Emeritus, IIT Madras, Prof Gaurav Raina, Professor, IIT Madras, Lt. Gen (Retd.) Karanbir Singh Brar, Distinguished Strategic Advisor, IITM Pravartak, Rajendra Mootha, Head (New Initiatives), IIT Madras Pravartak and Srikanth Valuthur, Lead, IN-SPAN programme, IITM Pravartak, also shared their thoughts on the programme.

The 24 participants of IN-SPAN were selected through a competitive process out of around 250 applications from all over Nepal. The first cohort was chosen based on written applications, presentations by candidates, and an interview by the selection committee led by IIT Madras Pravartak. The participants of the first cohort were drawn from a diverse range of sectors including cybersecurity, e-commerce, content creation platforms, AI, quick commerce, edtech, healthcare, drone technology, cleantech, agritech, legal tech, climate tech, aerospace and fintech. 

The programme was undertaken in three stages at IIT Madras Pravartak. For the first 4 weeks, the participants attended lectures and workshops by leading faculty members of IIT Madras and startup practitioners. They also interacted with 25 CxOs of Indian startups for real-world feedback and experience. Thereafter, for 2 weeks, they focused on skill development in technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, semiconductors and solar photovoltaic. The last 2 weeks provided an opportunity for them to hone their skills by interning at relevant startups in India. 

As a result of the comprehensive nature of this programme and engagement with successful startups, many participants of the cohort from Nepal, were able to forge business collaborations with Indian startups. Nine startups from Nepal received incubation and investment offers from IIT Madras Incubation Cell and IIT Madras Pravartak. The IIT Madras Incubation Cell is one of India’s flagship deeptech incubators with the combined valuation of its portfolio companies exceeding 6 billion USD. We congratulate the startups that have been selected for joining this accomplished group.

While IN-SPAN was originally envisaged to be conducted annually, the next cohort will be initiated in the coming months, in view of the strong interest from the Nepali startup community.