Bengaluru: As many as 20 start-ups across India have been shortlisted for assistance to set up their businesses in London, as part of the India Emerging 20 programme hosted by London Mayor’s initiative London & Partners.

These 20 start-ups have been selected from 345 participants across the country.

London & Partners is London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s business and promotional agency. The IE20 programme is supported by BDO, a global tax, accounting and advisory network. The programme aims to assist start-ups in meeting investors, financiers and potential partnerships for setting up their business in London/UK. These start-ups will be taking part in the London Tech Week next month.

This is the second edition of IE20 programme. Last year, there were around 200 participants and the number has gone up significantly this time.

According to an official release, the programme focuses on firms set up after 2000. The IE20 programme is looking at nurturing start-ups across various sectors such as technology, media, telecom, life sciences, financial and business services sectors, in order to help them grow their international business through London.

The jury shortlists 50 start-ups which have the capability to scale their business globally who will, then, have to present their business ideas before the members of the jury. Of these, 20 are finally selected for assistance. Among the companies shortlisted last year, two companies have already set up offices in London – LatentView Analytics and Curadev Pharma, creating job opportunities for at least 100 people.

The start-ups selected this year include Zenatix, an IoT-driven energy efficiency initiative, GOQii, an app which provides personalised health and fitness coaching along with a fitness tracker, Smartivity Labs, dedicated to designing, developing and delivering activity-based, smarter learning experiences, Stellapps Technologies, which focuses on end-to- end dairy technology.

Speaking to reporters here on Friday, David Slater, director, International Trade and Investment, London & Partners, quoting recent reports, said 11 per cent of London’s GDP was contributed by Asian businesses, of which India was the highest contributor. India is the third biggest investor in London, behind the US and China.

According to reports, since 2005 there has been a 125 per cent increase in Indian companies across all business sectors investing in London, with a 117 per cent increase in tech companies investing in the city, which accounts for 45 per cent of all projects.

Govt tweaks start-up definition

The government has widened the definition of start-ups to avail the incentives under the ‘Startup India, Standup India’ initiative. Now, an entity is eligible to be called as start-up if its age is not older than seven years from the date of incorporation or registration. The turnover should not have crossed H25 crore since its registration. Under the new definition, a start-up can be registered as a private company, a partnership firm, or a limited liability partnership.

Source: Indian Express