Nasscom, MassChallenge Israel join hands to support startups

Industry body Nasscom today inked an agreement with startup accelerator MassChallenge Israel, committing scholarship support of USD 5,000 each for up to 10 Indian startups.

Besides, a 'Trilateral Fund' of USD 50 million has been created by Israel-India Technology Group (I-ITG) to promote entrepreneurship and trilateral business opportunities between the US, India and Israel.

The relationships and collaboration between the three countries, ranging from economic to socio-cultural exchanges, have nurtured mutual ties over several decades, Nasscom President R Chandrasekhar told reporters here.

"By streamlining intellectual and economic exchange, as well as forging new alliances that foster collaboration, innovation and entrepreneurship, we can create an osmosis of ideas within this tech triangle unlocking the joint potential of the three allies," he added.

Nasscom, along with the Deshpande Foundation, will support a scholarship of USD 5,000 each for up to 10 Indian startups to help them access MassChallenge's resources and focus on growing their businesses.

Selected Indian startups will join other finalists of MassChallenge Israel 2018 for a four-month equity-free accelerator programme in Jerusalem.

The announcement coincides with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to India. "With MassChallenge Israel's resources and role as a leader in Startup Nation, Indian startups will be able to take their businesses to the international stage," Israel Ganot, Managing Director of MassChallenge, said.

The Trilateral Fund will invest in Israeli startups, working in areas like clean water and drones, and bring these technologies to the Indian market.

"India is a large market with a high growth rate, while Israel has the best technology in the world. US companies and investors have the capital and are looking at investing in high growth regions. I-ITG is bringing market-technology- capital together," I-ITG CEO and Chairman Dennis Mehta said.

According to a report by Zinnov, Israel and India have over 5,000 startups each that have raised up to USD 5 billion and USD 4 billion, respectively.

However, in terms of global innovation index ranking, Israel is 17th while India is at 60th spot.

The report titled 'USA-India-Israel: An Ocean of Opportunities' highlighted that the trilateral collaboration can unlock significant potential, especially in areas like healthcare and agriculture.