The Nepal Weekly 
February 11, 2025Indian Embassy organizes India-Nepal Startup Connect, a curtain raiser event. Embassy of India, Kathmandu organized the 2nd India-Nepal startup connect: curtain raiser for startup Mahakumbh (SMK) 2025 on Friday, Feb. 7, 225. Prithvi Subba Gurung, Minister for Communication and Information Technology, Nepal was the chief guest at the programme.
The event started with a round-table consisting of representatives from DPIIT, Government of India, Startup India, Federation off Nepal Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Confederation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries Young Entrepreneurs Forum, Nepal Association of Software and IT Services Companies, Fintech Alliance of Nepal, Robotic Association of Nepal, Nepal Academy of Science and Technology and Kathmandu University among others.
Minister Gurung spoke about the advances Nepal was making in embracing IT technologies that created opportunities for startups. He shed light on the unique and strong ties existing between Nepalese and Indian nationals in each other’s country. He also encouraged Nepalese companies to participate in SMK 2025.
Indian ambassador to Nepal Naveen Srivastava highlighted how startup culture has become mainstream among India’s youths. He underscored India’s widespread embrace of digital technologies. The growth of digital public infrastructure had catalyzed this digital shift.”
A recent example was the interoperability of between Nepal’s FonePay and India’s UPA which saw more than 4 lakh merchant transactions last year since its launch in March 2024.
Shri Sanjiv, J.S., DPIIT, Govt. of India, presented about SMK 2025. He showcased how the event had grown into a flagship event for the startup space and invited Nepali startup to participate. SMK will feature over 3,000 exhibitors, 10,000 startups 1,000 investors, incubators, and accelerators, with an anticipated 50,000 plus business visitors from across India and beyond.
The first panel discussion focused on the opportunities in India and Nepal or emerging technology startups. Prashant Mishra, CEO TechXR spoke about how virtual reality helped the create new tourism experiences. The second panel discussion focused on digital public infrastructure for social impact, in which Sixit Bhatta, CEO Vidhi Sanjal Pvt. Ltd., shared his efforts to build DPI for Nepal.
Nepali startups could tap ito the funding and mentorship network available in India especially through incubators like IIT Madras Pravartak, according to the organizers.
