Only 11% of Tech Investment in DeepTech Startups, More Funding Needed: NASSCOM

More financing is needed for the country's deep technology startup to move fast, while at the moment the sector is receiving only 11 percent of total technology investment

Devjani Ghosh, president of the National Association of Software and Services Companies ( NASSCOM), said this on Friday.

Deep Technology startups are enterprises that works in the field of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, quantum, blockchain, Internet of things (IoT), Drones and augmented Realty (AR), among others.

In a workshop titled 'Startups and Entrepreneurship: Vision India @2047', organised by the Department of Industry and Internal Trade Promotion under the Ministry of Commerce, Ghosh said that there are more than 25,000 tech startups in the country। Only 3,000 of it is related to intensive technology

She said that India has some of the best deep technology startups, working in a full range of emerging technologies, But they are getting only 11 percent in technology related funding.

Countries like China and the United States are prioritising their funds to the deep tech startup ecosystem because this sector is driving innovation for their country, according to Ghosh.

She also suggested mandatory 'startup service for students. She suggested creation of a 'startup service' on the lines of mandatory military service in countries like Singapore.

She said, "Can we say in the third or fourth year of engineering ( course) that you ( students ) have to work a year in a tech startups? This will help tech startups reach the best talent and compete with larger companies।"

Nasscom to Nurture 100 Artificial Intelligence, Deeptech Startups Each Year

Building on the success of the 10,000 Startups initiative, India's IT industry body, National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), has today announced its second phase, Accelerate 10X, a program that aims to catapult the nation's deep tech startup ecosystem onto the next level.

Over the last decade, India has risen in significance and is the third largest tech startup ecosystem globally with close to a dozen unicorns being created, in future the demand for advanced deep tech and AI-related technologies is expected to unlock a trillion-dollar opportunity. AI has the potential to add US$957 billion, or 15 percent of current gross value added to India’s economy in 2035 and Deep Tech Startups will drive this transformation as well as spearhead the broad structural transformation of the economy.

In the last 5 years, while Nasscom's 10,000 Startups has spread its wings to nurture early stage startups by incubating them in startup warehouses in 10 cities with the support of the State Governments and Sponsors, the Accelerate 10X program is designed to channelize the nation's entrepreneurial zeal into emerging technologies that will catalyse business and economic growth in future. As the Indian public and private sector focusses on the adoption of next generation technologies, the demand for advanced deep tech and AI-related technologies has seen an enormous growth, creating an opportunity for start-ups and tech players to provide innovative products and services. The AI startup sector saw an increase in funding of over 70% in 2017 with Natural Language Processing being one of the major focus areas for investors and estimates suggest that 50% of firms in India are implementing AI in their products. In an effort to build on this momentum and mentor 100 mature stage startups every year, the immersive six-month program divided in phases of 45 days each will focus on three key aspects - Product (Global Acceleration & Mentoring), Technology (Engineering & Deeptech Lab) and access to Patient capital.

100 mature stage startups a year. Building world-class tech products from India.

A look at the #Accelerate10X program and how it builds on the foundation laid down by the 10,000 #Startup initiative to position India on the forefront of the emerging technologies pic.twitter.com/o4BHvDnQol

— NASSCOM (@nasscom) September 18, 2018

Sharing his thoughts, Mr. Rishad Premji, Chairman, NASSCOM, said, "Over the years while India has emerged as the third largest start-up ecosystem, our readiness to ride the next wave of deep tech and AI revolution will determine whether India will be able to unlock the trillion-dollar opportunity. policy makers and business leaders must prepare for, and work toward, the AI revolution as we are endowed with one of most vibrant markets when it comes to innovation and we have all the entrepreneurial foundation to build these deep tech start-ups and achieve quality and scale. A collaborative and coherent effort is pertinent to galvanize India's capabilities in emerging technologies and equip our demographic prowess to power industry 4.0"

Imparting a focused push across key start up sectors such as healthcare, agriculture, education, smart cities & infrastructure could lead to substantial growth of AI in India. Providing a platform for promising DeepTech start-ups to explore, innovate, scale and solve for challenges of the future, the program will forge strategic partnerships with global Leader in Start-up Acceleration and Mentoring, TechStars, technology majors (such as Facebook, Google, IBM, Microsoft and Amazon Web Services (AWS)) in setting up Engineering & Deep Tech labs and set up innovation centres across the country. Nurturing in the form of strategic consulting, global acceleration, leadership coaching at every growth stage will be provided in collaboration with partners such as PWC, Xinova and CEOQuest among others. Addressing the key aspect of access to capital the program will work closely with several VC/PE partners (such as Saif Partners, Inventus Capital Partners and AXILOR).

Speaking on the occasion Ms. Debjani Ghosh, President, NASSCOM said, “Prowess in deep tech and artificial intelligence will be one of the main drivers of economic competitiveness in the near future and deep tech startups will drive innovation & spearhead the broad structural transformation of the economy. As the AI revolution sets in, the ecosystem needs to adapt, and more so in our role as an enabler. The Accelerate 10X program, further reaffirms 10,000 start-ups efforts in evangelizing and mentoring India’s latent, untapped talent in emerging technologies. We will continue its drive towards catalysing deep tech start-ups, build category leaders and support start-ups to create not only for India but also scale up and solve for the world.”

The program will have a four-pronged approach -

• Orient - Focus on diagnostic processes, requirements mapping & establishing critical success factors



• Execute - Focus on implementing the vision of startup in phases and achieve target milestones



• Take off - Focus on getting business, creating sustainable users and revenue



• Scale - Focus on creating systems, processes, business models to grow at scale

Startups have not only changed the lives of Indians but have played a pivotal role in laying the right foundations for India’s digital economy to flourish. Startups are poised to become the future engines of growth of the tech ecosystem in India and the Accelerate 10X program will build on the foundation laid down by the 10,000 Startup initiative to position India on the forefront of the emerging technologies revolution.

[Top Image - NASSCOM President Debjani Ghosh, Rishad Premji and Anna Roy discussing ‘the power of Deeptech start-ups and how it can unlock the trillion dollar industry’ at the #Accelerate10X program. | Via ~ Twitter.com/Nasscom]

Nasscom's New Head Will Be The first Woman To Head Tech Body In 30 Yrs

According to a report, nearly 50% of Indian women drop out of the corporate employment pipeline between junior and mid-levels, compared to the average of 29% across Asia. This is because of the very fact that Indian women usually marry earlier than their Asian counterparts, and heavy care-giving responsibilities as well as work-life balance, for in-laws as well as children, usually hit them as early as seven or eight years into their jobs.

Beating this taboo, India’s $167 billion IT services industry will soon get its first female head as Intel Corp. veteran Debjani Ghosh takes over as president of the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) in April. This will happen after 30 years of NASSCOM's formation, reported Economic Times

[caption id="attachment_123388" align="alignnone" width="700"] Debjani Ghosh[/caption]

After a two-decade career at Intel, most recently as managing director for South Asia, Debjani will lead India's IT apex body NASSCOM that represents global leaders in software outsourcing from Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. to Infosys Ltd.

Debjani promises to advocate for women in a workplace that remains male-dominated. Her appointment underscores how the local industry is waking up to a gender imbalance that plagues the global technology sector, starting with its epicenter of Silicon Valley, and has resulted in harassment and discrimination at all levels.

She's also an angel investor in a number of startups including Gurugram-based Inclov, a startup that builts a world's first matchmaking app for people with disability and health disorders. She argued that changes in the executive suite and mindsets are needed for a level playing field. India’s IT services sector employs about four million skilled workers and nearly a third of those are women. But that imbalance becomes starker the higher up the rungs one goes: none of India’s largest IT services companies have ever been headed by a female. Part of the problem is talent drain, she said in an interview.

“Things have to change. We have to check talented, capable women dropping out,” said Ghosh, who featured prominently during Nasscom’s annual conference, which is wrapping up Wednesday in Hyderabad. “Leakages are the challenge and I want to focus on how to fix that.”

Debjani is also non-executive board member of Yes Bank, according to her Linkedin profile and also close to prominent BJP leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

[caption id="attachment_123389" align="alignnone" width="362"] Debjani with Narendra Modi, Circa-2013[/caption]

Debjani Ghosh, will be the NASSCOM President-designate, succeeding Mr. R Chandrashekhar, President, NASSCOM on completion of his term in March, 2018.

Mr Raman Roy, Chairman, NASSCOM said, “We are delighted to welcome Debjani as the President-designate. The industry is today at a very interesting inflection point and NASSCOM has a key role to play in catalyzing the next phase of growth of the sector. Under Debjani’s leadership, NASSCOM will further enhance its initiatives in innovation, disruptive technologies, skilling and new market access”. He further added, “Debjani will be the first woman President of NASSCOM and her appointment is a true reflection of the importance of diversity and inclusion which is a key pillar for the industry”.

Last September, Ambiga Subramanian became a name to reckon with in the Indian women entrepreneurial world as she become the first woman to ever head an Indian unicorn (Mu Sigma). She is theb touted as the youngest of India’s eight richest self-made women. In 2016, she also found herself a place in India’s most powerful businesswomen list by Forbes.

Last year, we also featured entrepreneur Sushmita Mohanty, whom Fortune Magazine called as India's first 'Interstellar Woman' for her space startup Earth2Orbit.

Intel Looking To Invest In Women Owned Startups In India

Women entrepreneurs in India seemed to have finally found the chance they were looking for. According to an interview given to the Economic Times by Intel President Renee James, the technology giant is planning to invest in women owned startups in India. This step by Intel is a part of its global program aimed at increasing diversity in technology business.

"We are also looking at investing in women owned startups, which is something we haven't done before. We will be doing this worldwide,” said James.

James, who was on an official visit to India last week, also met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discussed the Modi government’s much popular Digital India initiative and the role Intel as a company could play in it.

The technology giant has announced $300 million earlier this year to increase workforce diversity. James is leading the initiative within the company.

Intel has already been engaging with women entrepreneurs in India since last year. In 2014, the company organized its first Supplier Connect Conference for Women entrepreneurs at its Bangalore campus. According to Debjani Ghosh, MD, Intel, South Asia, the conference aimed at connecting women owned startups with Intel’s internal end buyers/users and explore opportunities to work directly with Intel or through Tier 1 suppliers.

2015 seems to be the year of Intel. The company flagged off the year with the news of record shipments of its PCs in the year 2014. It then declared to spend a whopping $300 million to increase workforce diversity in the tech world. The semiconductor giant has also launched Curie, which is a button sized module used to build wearables out of accessories like bracelets, glasses, rings, at the recently concluded CES 2014 tech fair.

Keeping an eye on the future, Intel is investing heavily in Internet of Things (IoT). According to James, “The growth opportunities around IoT are huge. IoT is a solutions capability. You don't just sell chips. You sell the operating environment, the security, the manageability software so you can program the devices.”

Personal Computers and server chips account for bulk of Intel’s business. However, the company still has some catching up to do when it comes to mobile devices. The tech giant earned revenues of just $200 million in mobile devices last year and suffered losses worth $4.2 billion.

Intel Looking To Invest In Women Owned Startups In India

Women entrepreneurs in India seemed to have finally found the chance they were looking for. According to an interview given to the Economic Times by Intel President Renee James, the technology giant is planning to invest in women owned startups in India. This step by Intel is a part of its global program aimed at increasing diversity in technology business.

"We are also looking at investing in women owned startups, which is something we haven't done before. We will be doing this worldwide,” said James.

James, who was on an official visit to India last week, also met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discussed the Modi government’s much popular Digital India initiative and the role Intel as a company could play in it.

The technology giant has announced $300 million earlier this year to increase workforce diversity. James is leading the initiative within the company.

Intel has already been engaging with women entrepreneurs in India since last year. In 2014, the company organized its first Supplier Connect Conference for Women entrepreneurs at its Bangalore campus. According to Debjani Ghosh, MD, Intel, South Asia, the conference aimed at connecting women owned startups with Intel’s internal end buyers/users and explore opportunities to work directly with Intel or through Tier 1 suppliers.

2015 seems to be the year of Intel. The company flagged off the year with the news of record shipments of its PCs in the year 2014. It then declared to spend a whopping $300 million to increase workforce diversity in the tech world. The semiconductor giant has also launched Curie, which is a button sized module used to build wearables out of accessories like bracelets, glasses, rings, at the recently concluded CES 2014 tech fair.

Keeping an eye on the future, Intel is investing heavily in Internet of Things (IoT). According to James, “The growth opportunities around IoT are huge. IoT is a solutions capability. You don't just sell chips. You sell the operating environment, the security, the manageability software so you can program the devices.”

Personal Computers and server chips account for bulk of Intel’s business. However, the company still has some catching up to do when it comes to mobile devices. The tech giant earned revenues of just $200 million in mobile devices last year and suffered losses worth $4.2 billion.