A new bilateral agreement between the International Enterprise (IE) Singapore and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) will see a slew of Singapore firms to take part in the growing startup firms of India.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) allows startups in both countries to exchange knowledge and collaborate on projects. The activities and programmes that will be facilitated by the two institutions will be able to give Singapore startups a deeper understanding of the current technology landscape in India.
The MOU was inked by IE Singapore Tan Soon Kim and CII Director General Chandrajit Banerjee during the Singapore-India Business Dialogue.
Tan said India is amongst the world's largest startup bases, making it a great partner for Singapore.
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"To stay relevant, Singapore companies must be nimble and quick to adopt new technologies. IE Singapore's partnership with CII will facilitate the exchange of ideas between industries and governments of both countries, and enable Singapore companies to pilot or co-develop innovative solutions in India," he said.
More so, Tan said this would be of great help especially to Singapore companies looking to establish a strong track record and scale up across India.
India's technology and innovation ecosystem have been rapidly developing. In fact, it was home to over 5,000 startups in the past year specializing in the areas of e-commerce, fintech, data analytics, and artificial intelligence. Some notable homegrown startups in India are Flipkart and Paytm.
The Indian government has been supportive in the efforts to expand this blossoming community. As a matter of fact, the government established Startup India initiative to provide tax relief for startups in India, including foreign startups.
Startup India has set aside S$2.1 billion in funds to support the development of such early-stage firms.
Singapore startups have thrived in the friendly and competitive market of India. Tech startups like Anchanto, Shopmatic, and ViSenze are amongst those that saw India's potential.
Shopmatic CEO Anurag Avula shared that the newly-signed deal between the tech institutions of Singapore and India would allow firms to fully harness the technology innovation synergies that exist between the two markets.
"The possible business partnerships that could arise from this MOU make it all the more exciting for companies who have a presence in both markets and will allow Singapore companies to partner with Indian organisations to expand their coverage in India," Avula noted.
