25 Indian startups to pitch ideas to Japanese investors

National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom), the IT industry body, has selected 25 Indian startups to present ideas at an event in Tokyo next month. 

Nasscom has partnered with the Indian embassy in Tokyo to form the Japanese Venture Capital Network, it said in a statement.

The network will allow the selected Indian startups to present ideas before 50 Japanese venture capital firms and institutions and get a chance to raise capital, the statement added.  

Nasscom has selected 25 startups from over 1,504 applications ranging from sectors like agritech, foodtech, cybersecurity, healthtech, mobility, industrial solutions, supply chain and fintech after rigorous screening and voting process. 

The applications were judged and reviewed by industry leaders from India and Japan including Ravi Gururaj, founder of Qikpod, Kunal Bahl, founder of Snapdeal, Nau Murakami, partner at Incubate Fund, Eto Munehiko, partner at Dream Incubator, Brij Bhasin, India head at Rebright Partner and Vinit Bhansali, vice president for investment at Orios Venture Partners. 

The live pitching session, which will happen next month, is part of Nasscom’s ‘10,000 startups initiative’, and is likely to see investments in pre-series and series A / B / C levels where the founders are looking to raise more than $2 million up to a maximum of $10 million. 

Nasscom plans to further scale up the network to over 75 plus VC firms and institutions, the statement added.

"Japanese VCs have shown particular interest in investing in Indian tech startups creating unique solutions specific to domestic needs. This partnership represents the “startup bridge” between India and Japan, bringing two successful entrepreneurial ecosystems together to create innovative and large-scale companies of the future," said Debjani Ghosh, president, Nasscom.