20 Indian Startups Selected For London Mayor’s Business Program

Twenty Indian startups have been selected to join London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s India’s Emerging 20 (IE20) business program designed to help companies to expand in the UK city, IANS reported.

The program, which looked into 300 applications from India’s business hubs, aims to identify India’s most ambitious companies that are looking to expand internationally. The 20 winners, including Hug Innovations of Hyderabad and Mumbai’s Furtados School of Music, were chosen among the applications that came from Mumbai, Bengaluru, and New Delhi.

The program, in its third edition this year, was launched by London and Partners, the London mayor’s official promotional agency, and BDO,a major accounting and taxation network, along with Lalit Hotels.

The winners will have the opportunity to benefit from discounted rates on London office, and tailored expert advice on marketing, and access to finance and local market analysis, London and Partners said in a statement on May 18.

“London is a truly global business center and presents lots of opportunities for Indian companies looking to expand their business overseas,” Sadiq Khan was quoted as saying by the news agency. “I am delighted that my India Emerging 20 program is helping some of India’s fastest growing companies with their international growth.”

Hug Innovations of Hyderabad is a wearable tech company developing IoT platforms which enable users to complete tasks, such as controlling apps, electronics, VR headsets, toys and home automation using just hand gestures.

Furtados School of Music (FSM) is a music education company with a vision to provide accessible quality music education to all. The company is currently testing a mobile application to bring together people interested in learning music and contacting music teachers.

The other winners include Appnomic Systems, BiOZEEN, BlackPepper Technologies, Chai Point (Mountain Trail Foods), Happay, Intello Labs, Ittisa Digital Media Services, Senseforth, Chakr Innovation, Dineout/inResto, Fork Media, Lucideus Tech, Morph.ai, Videonetics Technology, Wigzo Technologies, Gaia Smart Cities, Iksula Services and SaffronStays.

India and the United Kingdom recently also announced a UK-India Tech Partnership, which aims to identify and pair businesses, venture capital, universities and others, thereby providing access routes to markets for British and Indian entrepreneurs, and small and medium enterprises.

“IE20 is an important element of the UK-India Technology-Partnership which was agreed by our two Prime Ministers in April and formally launched in India last week by Digital and Culture Secretary, Matt Hancock,” Dominic McAllister, British Deputy High Commissioner in Bengaluru, said, IANS reported.

“The UK and India are global leaders in technology and two of the world’s most innovative countries. The new UK-India Tech Partnership will be testimony to that. A pilot soon to be launched in Karnataka will focus on augmented and virtual reality, advanced materials and artificial intelligence — technologies which a number of our winners today are already deploying,” McAllister added.