The Nepal Weekly 
June 28, 2022
The day long CNYEF Nepal StartUp Fest 2022 concluded in Kathmandu on Saturday with the commitment of Rs. 245 million investment.
The Confederation of Nepalese Industries Young Entrepreneurs Forum had received more than 300 project proposals from across the country. Among them, ten shortlisted projects were given the opportunity to present their pitch at the fest.
Out of the total investment pool of Rs 500 million, Team Ventures, Global Equity Fund, Aadhyanta Fund Management, Himalayan Capital and Televenture Partner Pvt Ltd pledged the capital investment of around Rs 250 million to seven out the 10 finalists.
Following were the ten finalists and among them seven received the seed money.
• inGrails Pvt Ltd: Rs 85 million
• Skill Sewa Pvt Ltd: Rs 85 million
• Doctors on Call Pvt Ltd: Rs 25 million
• Kheti-DV Excellus Pvt Ltd: Rs 20 million
• Dark Matter Game Production: Rs 15 million
• Digital Age Nepal: Rs 10 million
• Voxcro: Rs 10 million
• Foreveryng
• Mcqhall DalloTech Pvt Ltd
• Moho
More than 1,000 People from all walks of life, mostly young minds, thronged to the ‘CNIYEF Nepal StartUp Fest 2022’, at Hotel Soaltee. The fest organized with a view to promoting startup businesses and highlight their potential in contributing to the nation’s economy and social wellbeing.
“This festival will give birth to a generation that will rewrite history,” remarked Binod Chaudhary, chairperson of Chaudhary Group. Citing the examples of Jack Ma and Bill Gates, he announced anyone can be an entrepreneur if they have the dedication to fulfill their dreams. “Innovative ideas and entrepreneurship are more important for a startup than the capital.”
The government should play the role of a facilitator for the growth of startups to address the country’s unemployment problems, pointed out Chaudhary. Speaking at the event, Finance Minister Janardhan Sharma said the upcoming budget has prioritised startups, with due importance accorded to establishment of incubation centres and trainings to scale up the skills of entrepreneurs, and pooling of investment for new business ventures.
Minister of Industry and Commerce Dilendra Prasad Badu said that this kind of event will facilitate the participants to learn new ideas and techniques to grow as entrepreneurs.
Moreover, for the scaling and enhancing the entrepreneur culture in Nepal, he emphasised on the need to contribution of private sector bodies such as the CNI and the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI).
“Events like these are extremely important and all sectors can play an important role in building the ecosystem of startup in Nepal,” remarked minister Badu. “We are working to facilitate young entrepreneurs to create jobs in the local market and stop the brain drain.”
The biggest challenge for startups is investment, remarked Bishnu Agrawal, president of CNI. He said that the fest was organised with the objective of raising investment for innovative startups. He stressed that young entrepreneurs should not let their innovative thinking die just because of shortage of fund. “We have organised this programme to encourage the innovative youth.”
Similarly, Poonam Khandewal of Venture Catalyst and India’s angel investor, as a foreign speaker encouraged the youth participating in the fest to become entrepreneurs.
