British PM Theresa May meets startups in Bengaluru

By Raaghav G R

Posted on November 10, 2016

British PM, Theresa May, on Tuesday met with a lot of startup leaders in Bengaluru to understand India’s startup ecosystem. Anil Srivatsa, CEO of Radiowalla, Ram Kakkad, founder of English Dost, Anand Madanagopal, founder and CEO of Cardiac Design labs, Tanuja Ganu, co-founder of Data Glen and Ankita Vashishtha, CEO of Saha fund, were the start-up leaders whom Theresa May had met. Bengaluru is the leading hub for startups in India and is now ranked as the world’s 3^rd largest startup hub after the U.S. and U.K. India, at present has around 4,750 start-ups and another 1,400 startups are expected next year, which is an 8-10% growth from this year. Bengaluru has more than 1300 startups out of the 4,750 startups in India. Its startups have received more than 40% of the funding; the startups all over India have received. It is followed by the National Capital Region (NCR) and Mumbai in the number of startups hosted. The meeting with the startups comes as a part of the three – day India tour, planned by British PM, Theresa May who attended the India – UK technical summit in New Delhi on Sunday. Theresa May promised at the summit that she would enhance trade and investment ties with India and also relax the visa process for regular Indian businessmen, who do business in the UK. She said they would have to fill fewer forms and would be able to make a swift passage through the airports in the UK. Read my article on India – UK technical summit. But there are also visa regulations, which are an obstacle to the movement of IT professionals between the countries. This is viewed as a backward step by the IT trade associations of the UK and India.

The ties between India and the UK have enormous potential to grow. There are companies in the UK which could benefit immensely if new smart cities are developed in India and there are Indian businesses in the UK which could benefit if the cultural and economic reforms happen in the UK. The British Prime Minister, Theresa May, said that the two countries should throw their weight behind each other and push for each other’s reforms for the mutual benefit of each other. India is a booming country with an enormous talent pool, especially in the IT sector. The startups in India are booming, but need investments and free trade to realize their maximum potential. If free trade and investments is realized between India and the UK, it could open up lot of new opportunities for the startups in both countries thereby creating a lot of new jobs and making the economies of both the countries prosper. Hopefully, all that, which was promised at the summit, is realized for the mutual benefit of both the countries. Read more on Startup News

British PM Theresa May meets startups in Bengaluru