20 Indian start-ups selected for business expansion to London
Bengaluru, May 18: Twenty Indian start-ups have been chosen to join London Mayor Sadiq Khan's India Emerging 20 (IE20) business programme which aims to help selected companies in setting up or expanding their business in Britain's capital.
The India Emerging 20 programme which is in its third edition this year was launched by London and Partners, which is the Mayor of London's official promotional agency, in collaboration with BDO, a major accounting and taxation network, and Lalit Hotels.
It was set up with the aim to identify some of India's most ambitious companies that are considering international expansion.
The 20 winners of 2018 were chosen from over 300 applications from some of India's leading business hubs such as Mumbai, Bengaluru and New Delhi, London and Partners said in a statement on Friday.
The winners will have the opportunity to benefit from discounted rates on a London office and tailored expert advice on marketing, access to finance and local market analysis, it added.
"London is a truly global business centre and presents lots of opportunities for Indian companies looking to expand their business overseas," said Khan.
"I am delighted that my India Emerging 20 programme is helping some of India's fastest growing companies with their international growth and London remains open to investment, talent and collaborations with India," he added.
Among the winners selected for this year's programme are Hug Innovations of Hyderabad and Mumbai's Furtados School of Music.
Hug Innovations is a wearable tech company developing IoT platforms that allows users to complete tasks including controlling apps, electronics, VR headsets, toys and home automation using just hand gestures.
Furtados School of Music (FSM) is a music education firm with a vision to provide accessible quality music education to all. The company is currently testing a mobile application to bring together people interested in learning music and music teachers.
The other winners are Appnomic Systems, BiOZEEN, BlackPepper Technologies, Chai Point (Mountain Trail Foods), Happay, Intello Labs, Ittisa Digital Media Services, Senseforth, Chakr Innovation, Dineout/inResto, Fork Media, Lucideus Tech, Morph.ai, Videonetics Technology, Wigzo Technologies, Gaia Smart Cities, Iksula Services and SaffronStays.
In April, India and Britain announced a UK-India Tech Partnership to identify and pair businesses, venture capital, universities and others to provide access routes to markets for British and Indian entrepreneurs and small and medium enterprises.
"IE20 is an important element of the UK-India Technology-Partnership which was agreed by our two Prime Ministers in April and formally launched in India last week by Digital and Culture Secretary, Matt Hancock," said Dominic McAllister, British Deputy High Commissioner in Bengaluru.
"The UK and India are global leaders in technology and two of the world's most innovative countries. The new UK-India Tech Partnership will be testimony to that. A pilot soon to be launched In Karnataka will focus on augmented and virtual reality, advanced materials and artificial intelligence -- technologies which a number of our winners today are already deploying," McAllister added.
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Left made a mistake by fielding a candidate against Shashi Tharoor, says Prakash Raj
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): The CPI(M)-led LDF made a mistake by fielding a candidate against Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, according to actor Prakash Raj, who is known for his pro-Left political stand on various socio-political issues.
Praising Tharoor as "the best-spoken Malayali and a statesman" to whom even international politicians would listen, Prakash Raj here on Monday said that the Left should not have fallen into "the trap" of the BJP, which wanted the two secular fronts to fight between each other so that they could split the votes and gain benefits.
Addressing a press conference here, the actor said, "I know the Left candidate (CPI leader Pannyan Raveendran). He is a nice person and a good politician. But I think the Left made a mistake by fielding a candidate against Tharoor."
He said it is important to think about the welfare of the country rather than political parties.
The actor said what Tharoor has worked for over the past 15 years cannot be overlooked, and requested the voters of Thiruvananthapuram "not to let him down".
He also unleashed a barrage of accusations against the BJP-led NDA's Thiruvananthapuram candidate Rajeev Chandrasekhar.
Prakash Raj, who hails from Karnataka, a state Chandrasekhar represents in the Rajya Sabha, alleged that the BJP leader cannot speak anything against the 'Rajavu' (the king) -- apparently referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi -- and said the MP could not even demand Rs 500 per head drought relief for the poor farmers of his state.
"It was the first time a state government had to move the Supreme Court against a central government for getting drought relief," Prakash Raj said.
He said after 10 years of absolute inaction in Karnataka, Chandrasekhar has now come to Thiruvananthapuram, promising "development".
Prakash Raj also ridiculed the affidavit submitted by Rajeev Chandrasekhar before the Election Commission in which his taxable income for the year 2021-2022 is declared as just a mere Rs 680. He said he could not understand how the union minister who owns assets worth crores of rupees could be poorer than him.
He also questioned the candidature of a man on the BJP ticket from the royal family in Karnataka -- apparently referring to Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar (YKC), the titular head of the Mysore royal family -- who too, according to him, has covered up his multi-million rupee worth assets and submitted a false affidavit.
"These people are liars and thieves," Prakash Raj said.
Questioning each and every claim of the Modi government regarding development, he put out a challenge asking if anyone could show him at least 10 of the 100 smart cities promised by Modi, or the employment that the BJP-led government had supposedly created.
Prakash Raj said he always has high hopes for Kerala as a state that will not allow the BJP to open its account and requested the voters of Thiruvananthapuram not to let him down.
