SOME TESTIMONIALS

Kumaar Bagrodia
Founder & CEO, NeuroLeap
I would like to thank you for having me speak at the event and for your kind hospitality.
One could see the effort that was put in the curation of topics, speakers and ensuring wholesome discussions. The quality of attendees also made it richer.
Francisque Lebrunie
Venture Partner India, Super Capital
Ce fut un évènement réussi, les sujets étaient très intéressants et enrichissants et les rencontres de qualité.
Guruprakash Sastry
Associate Vice President & Climate Action Lead, Infosys
I enjoyed the session thoroughly and was glad to meet my fellow panelists and some interesting connects in the audience.
I think it was a good session that brought out some very pertinent points to take forward, for industry, and also for startups.
Ezhil Subbian
Co-Founder & CEO, String Bio Pvt Ltd
It was a great event to meet like-minded folks from different ecosystems.
Look forward to the next event!
Pankaj Gupta
Founder, EthAum Venture Partners
It was indeed a fabulous event with the right kind speakers, panels and networking opportunities.
Yossi Levi
CEO, Todos Technologies
Remarkable 2nd edition of India Global Innovation Connect (IGIC) in Bangalore. It was truly an honor to participate and be a part of such an engaging and impactful event.
Eli Schwartz
Research Scientist, IBM Research
I'm grateful for the opportunity to have been a part of the recent IGIC event. It was a well-curated assembly of compelling speakers and thought-provoking discussions. The feedback I received post my panel participation was also very encouraging.
Renju Harikumar
Director Global Innovation Protection, Accenture
It was an honor to be part of this prestigious event and thank you for having me. The most impressing aspect was the topics selection and the in depth discussion individual teams had. The contents were so relevant and discussions were really meaningful. Look forward to collaborating with you in the future as well.
David Glazer
CEO, 3R Technology
On behalf of 3RTechnology, I would like to express my gratitude for the opportunity to participate in this impactful event. The experience was invaluable, and it has deepened our resolve to contribute to the ongoing dialogue surrounding the responsible use of technology. We are inspired by the spirit of the summit and the dedication of your team, and we wholeheartedly support your endeavor to make the world a better place through each successive event.
Patricia Sosrodjojo
General Partner, Seedstars
I wanted to drop a note to let you know how much I enjoyed the conference. The content and participants were top notch.

2024 PROGRAM

June 06

8:30 - Ongoing | Registration of participants

Registration of participants.

9:30 - 10:00 | Official opening plenary

10:15 - 11:25 | India as a destination of choice for investment in startups

Grand Ballroom

As one of the world’s fastest growing economy leap-frogging the digitization process and a country with the 3rd largest – steadily growing – startup ecosystem, India is increasingly attracting the attention of foreign VCs, PEs and family offices eager to explore new investment opportunities.

  • What answers to the questions still on the mind of some foreign investors about involvement in India’s startup ecosystem?
  • What complementarities and synergies can be created between foreign and Indian investors?
  • How does India figure in the global startup ecosystems landscape? The Pluses and the minuses?

Speakers:

Satya Bansal, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Blue Ashva Capital, Singapore
Andreea Danila, Founder & General Partner, Global Millennial Capital, UAE
Takeshi Ebihara, Founding General Partner, Rebright Partners, Japan
BV Naidu, Chairman, Karnataka Digital Economy Mission, India
Anand Prasanna, Managing Partner, Iron Pillar Capital Management, UAE
Dana Taigman Koren, Managing Partner & Board Investor, Q Fund Ventures, Israel

Moderated by:

Jonas Brunschwig, Chief Executive Officer, Swissnex in India & Consul General of Switzerland

11:30 - 12:15 | Riding the wave of the digital consumer revolution

Grand Ballroom

Hari Menon, Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer, BigBasket, India

In conversation with:

Claude Smadja, Chairman, Smadja & Smadja Strategic Advisory, Switzerland

  • What implications of India’s emergence as the world’s 3rd largest E-commerce market? Beyond the economic growth factor, assessing the impact on innovation development, on financial and social inclusiveness
  • With already 950 million internet-connected people and the E-commerce market size expected to cross the US$ 400 billion by 2026, what trends will continue to shape the evolution of digital commerce?
  • How will technologies such as AIO, AR, VR shape the evolution of digital commerce? What should startups keep in mind as they develop activities in these domains?
  • When should we expect to see the Indian equivalent of Amazon or Alibaba?

12:15 - 13:15 | Buffet lunch

Buffet lunch.

13:15 - 14:15 | Shapers of the future

Ballroom 1

Meet the pioneer of new technologies, they are creating new business models, they are one step ahead of new social and consumers’ trends…. There are on the stage.

Speakers:

Kumaar Bagrodia, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Arkni PhotoBioLife and NeuroLeap, India
Yoni Ben Zaken, Co-founder & Chief Business Officer, NOF- Natural Offset Farming, Israel
Rachelle Jensen, Chief Executive Officer, Luminis Water Technologies, Singapore
Alexander Kübler, Co-founder & Chief Executive Officer, RoBoa, Switzerland
Hyerin Park, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Enomad, Republic of Korea
Avinash Sharma, Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer, ElectricPe, India

Moderated by:

Gaurav Choudhury, Co-founder & Chief Executive Officer, Earshot Media, India

13:15 - 14:15 | The GCCs dynamic and the startup solutions to boost corporate innovation

Ballroom 2

An increasing number of Indian and foreign MNCs operating in India have been sourcing innovation from startups in various domains to integrate in their global products and services offerings. The driver for this is the emergence of India as a global hub for Global Capability Centers (GCCs). A dynamic interaction is at play between GCCs and startups. The former using the relationship to expand and accelerate innovation processes and the latter benefiting from the support of global corporations in validating and scaling up their products and services.
Adding to the GCCs dynamic, the expanding partnerships between foreign and national MNCs and the startups contributing to source products and service innovation in their global offering is now transforming the overall picture of India’s corporate innovation.

  • What conditions for the innovation interaction between startups and corporations to work best?
  • How does the rise of GCCs impact on the expansion of the IT sector with respect to product development, innovation, and research?

Speakers:

Vic Bhagat, Senior Vice President and Global Advisor, Kyndryk, USA
Shivi Jain, Program Director German Accelerator India, Start2 Group, Germany
Shalini Pillay, India Leader – Global Capability Centers, KPMG, UK
Aruna Schwarz, Co-founder & Chief Executive Officer, Stelae Technologies, UK
Pankaj Vyas, Chief Executive Officer, Siemens Technology & Services, Germany

Moderated by:

Madanmohan Rao, Research Director, YourStory Media, India

14:30 - 15:30 | India’s unique innovation model: Getting to the next level

Ballroom 1

India is emerging as one of the world’s top innovation hubs, thanks to the cumulative impact of the expansion of Digital Public Infrastructure covering payments, identity, and Data management, of the development of engineering and research talent, and of the emergence of a dynamic startup ecosystem – now one of the top three in the world. Adding to that is the complementarity of a top-down and of a bottom-up approaches between the government and the private sector on innovation development.

  • The government as an innovation agent
  • What factor to add or to strengthen for the sustainability of India’s innovation model?
  • Addressing the perennial issue of corporate R&D weakness
  • What distinctive role for India in the global innovation landscape?

Speakers:

Rajeev Banduni, Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer, OpenI Partners, India
Sanjeev Gupta, CEO Karnataka Digital Economy Mission, India
Mohandas Pai, Co-Founder & Chairman, Aarin Capital, India
Avinash Vashistha, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Tholons, USA

Moderated by:

Claude Smadja, Smadja & Smadja Strategic Advisory, Switzerland

14:30 - 15:30 | IP and innovation in healthtech

Ballroom 2

Healthcare technology continues to evolve at a rapid pace with a growing number of startups and corporate players worldwide developing innovations and leveraging the tremendous potential of AI, Bid Data and other disrupting technologies to provide healthcare services and support to huge segments of population which were deprived of them or were getting them in a very limited way. The Digital Health market worldwide is growing 10% a year and is projected to be at around US$ 280 billion by 2028.Digitization, virtual care, medical robotics and embedded devices, healthcare data intelligence are having a genuine transformative impact in the way healthcare is being approached today.

  • What are the trends – technological, societal, economic – shaping up the evolution of the healthtech sector?
  • What new innovations/developments can we expect in the coming years?
  • How to assess and protect healthtech IP

Speakers:

Shashank Avadhani, Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Alyve Health, India
Kenneth Barr, Senior Vice President, Syngene International Limited, India
Sowjanya Kallakuri, Associate Director of Future Health Technologies, ETH Centre, Singapore
Peter Ling, Partner, Lenz & Staehelin, Switzerland

Moderated by:

Florin Müller, Head of Swiss Business Hub India, Switzerland

15:40 - 16:40 | Technology Update: Where is the Fintech sector going?

Ballroom 1

The global fintech market is today estimated at about US$ 230 billion and is expected to reach US$ around US$ 910-920 billion by 2032, and Financial technologies keep evolving while new industry regulations also keep emerging. India’s fintech sector is growing at an even faster pace, recording an increase of 59% from last quarter of 2023 to the 1st quarter 2024.

  • What are the technology trends in the sector?
  • Where do Indian and foreign players stand?
  • What opportunities to leverage and challenges to address?
  • How, and at what precise moment?

Speakers:

Amreesh Kher, Chief Business Officer – Insurance, Tata Digital, India
Murali Nandini, Head of strategy, Zoth, Singapore
Ryotaro Tsukii, Director – Corporate, Ginco Technologies, Japan
Nandan Venkatachalam, Head B2B Fintech Investments, Axilor Ventures, India

Moderated by:

Mahima Marin, Head – Strategic Partnerships, W Beyond Private Limited, India

15:40 - 16:40 | Technology Update: Where is the supply chain technology sector going?

Ballroom 2

  • What are the technology trends in the sector?
  • Where do Indian and foreign players stand?
  • What opportunities to leverage and challenges to address?

Speakers:

Rakshit Daga, Chief Technology Officer, Big Basket, India
Manan Mehta, Co- Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Solar Ladder, India
Ranjith Mukundan, Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Stellapps Technologies, India
Ankit Sharma, Practice lead digital Supply Chain, Capgemini Invent India, France

Moderated by:

Vishal Krishna, Founder, Editor and Head of Content & Media, UpStream Life, India

16:40 - 17:00 | Networking break

Networking break.

17:00 - 17:50 | Betting on India’s innovation and growth story

Grand Ballroom

Thierry Porté, Managing Director & Vice Chairman, JC Flowers & Co LLC, USA

A conversation with:

Prashanth Prakash, founding partner Accel Partners,India, co-founder UnboxingBLR Foundation, India

18:00 - 19:00 | What does it take for India to join the world’s semiconductors' top players league?

Ballroom 1

India has taken significant steps to create the propitious framework conditions to join the world’s top players in the fields of semiconductor manufacturing, research, and development. The country’s semiconductor market is expected to be at around US $80 billion by 2028.

  • How are the government policies working in terms of developing a top-level chip manufacturing capability?
  • How to expand the proven semiconductor design capabilities of Indian engineers? What actions to address the scarcity of cutting-edge infrastructure labs in the country’s universities?
  • How to capitalize optimally on the increasing involvement of semiconductors manufacturers giants in India?

Speakers:

Pankaj Gupta, Co-Founder & Partner, AlphaGen Venture Capital, Singapore
Udit Sood, Associate, Covington & Burling, USA
Anshuman Tripathi, Member, National Security Advisory Board (NSAB), India
Pradeep Vajram, Partner, 7Rays Ventures, India
V. Veerappan, Chairman India Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA), India

Moderated by:

Mahima Marin, Head – Strategic Partnerships, W Beyond Private Limited, India

18:00 - 19:00 | What time for exit?

Ballroom 2

IPOs were basically nonexistent in 2023 and M&As involving VC-backed companies were also severely hit. However, the context seems to be changing, with a number of public companies and PEs awash with cash to invest. So, the time for a revival of IPOs and M&As may have now come back. And, for many startup investors, the questions might be:

  • How, and at what precise moment?
  • What does it take to go public at time of uncertainty and volatility

Speakers:

Anjani Bansal, Partner and India Country Head, Global Brain Venture Capital, Japan
Prem Barthasarathy, Managing Partner & Founder, Pontaq, United Kingdom
Derick Jose, Managing Director Industrial AI, Accenture, USA/India
Varada Rajan Krishna, Co-Founder The 100 Open Startups, India

Moderated by:

Kenneth Woosuk Choi, Deputy Managing Editor, Chosun Ilbo Group, Republic of Korea

19:00 - 19:45 | Reception

Reception.

19:45 - 21:45 | Sit-down gala dinner

Grand Ballroom

What vision for India’s technology future for the next five years?

With keynote speaker:

Amitabh Kant, G20 Sherpa, India

In conversation with:

BV Naidu, Chairman Karnataka Digital Economy Mission, India

June 07

9:00 - 9:50 | The new technology trends on the horizon: How they will reshape economies, societies, and business

Grand Ballroom

David Passig, Futurist, Professor Bar-Ilan University (BIU), Member Israel National Council for Research & Development, Israel

In conversation with:

Ganapathy Venugopal (VG), Co-founder & Chief Executive Officer, Axilor Ventures, India

10:00 - 11:00 | Technology update: Biotech and Genomics: Navigating turbulences and seizing opportunities

Ballroom 1

The biotech industry has witnessed remarkable developments in India as well as at the global level. The Indian biotech and life sciences sector is emerging a hub for pharmaceutical innovation. On the genomics side, The Genome India Project has completed sequencing 10’000 Indian genomes, providing a database for Indian genetic diversity. The biotech and genomics sector is now at an inflection point in India as well as at the global level, with technological advances and evolving market conditions creating a new paradigm for the sector.

  • Adjusting to more difficult funding conditions
  • How can startups in the sector leverage in an efficient way AI technology, the CRISPR developments and the increasing data available?
  • How to develop the collaboration between biotech and genomics startups and the pharmaceutical companies?
  • How to navigate the increasingly complex regulatory and ethical issues involved as the biotech and genomics sector makes new advances?

Speakers:

Darshan H.V., IAS Managing Director, Department of Electronics Information Technology Biotechnology and Science & Technology, Government of Karnataka
Leela Maitreyi, Director, BD & Global Alliances, Bugworks Research, India
Vivek Mishra, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Fibreoheal Woundcare, India
Utpal Tatu, Professor and Chairman at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), India
Vivekanand Tiwari, Co-founder & CSO, ClimateCrop, Israel

Moderated by:

Kenneth Woosuk Choi, Deputy Managing Editor, Chosun Ilbo Group, Republic of Korea

10:00 - 11:00 | Managing the opportunities and challenges of the changing dynamics of the deep tech ecosystem

Ballroom 2

Deep tech technologies such as IOT, Blockchain, Robotics, AI and Quantum computing have a tremendous disruption potential on almost every sector of activity. However, developing the potential of Deep tech technologies implies addressing a number of challenges including regulatory uncertainties, bringing together very specialized high-technology skills, high R&D costs in a tighter funding environment and long development cycles.

  • Leveraging AI capabilities to fast-track growth-stage strategies?
  • Sustaining lengthy R&D cycles in a difficult fundraising environment
  • What kind of Deep tech startup are most attracting the interest of investors, whether traditional VCs or the VC arms of corporations?

Speakers:

Jonas Brunschwig, Chief Executive Officer, Swissnex in India & Consul General of Switzerland
Chen Goldberg, Chief Executive Officer, CloudWize, Israel
Kalyan Sivasailam, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, 5C Network, India
Dana Taigman Koren, Managing Partner & Board Investor, Q Fund Ventures, Israel

Moderated by:

Madanmohan Rao, Research Director, YourStory Media, India

11:15 - 12:15 | Making intelligent use of intelligent technologies

Ballroom 1

Soumitra Dutta, Dean and Professor of Management, Saïd Business School, Oxford University, Chair, OECD Taskforce of Experts on AI, UK

In conversation with:

Ralph Voltmer, Partner, Head of India Practice, Covington & Burling, USA

11:15 - 12:15 | Technology Update: Where is the sustainability tech sector going?

Ballroom 2

Countries and corporations in most countries are today getting g into the sustainability imperative not only to fight climate change but also to meet increasingly stringent regulations, increasing expectations and demands from consumers and the public at large. Renewable energy, eco-friendly transportation, sustainable agriculture, waste management, green building, are among the sectors attracting investors’ attention.

  • What are the technology trends in the sector?
  • Where do Indian and foreign players stand?
  • What opportunities to leverage and challenges to address?

Speakers:

Sriram Kannan, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Routematic, India
Aris Mukherjee, Co-Founder & CCO, RTDT Laboratories, Switzerland
Dana Pousty, Co-Founder, SoLED, Israel
Vladas Snieckus, Executive Manager for Sustainable Technologies, Head of Research & Product Development, Waynerr, Switzerland

Moderated by:

Jose Jacob Kalayil, Director & Curator, The India Advantage Summit & Future ICT Forum, India

12:15 - 13:15 | Buffet lunch

Buffet lunch.

13:15 - 14:15 | Cracking the code on scaling up: Listening to those who did it

Grand Ballroom

All startups have to address the challenges of time to market and of cracking scale. They have to make do with internal factors they need to manage and external factors such as market readiness or competitive risk on which they have scant control. And the challenge of time to market and scaling up is made more acute in the present context of the decrease of financial resources available to startup founders.

  • Are there best practices to optimize the product development process of fast-paced technological changes and market evolution?
  • What to be learnt from the entrepreneurs who have succeeded in cracking scale?

Speakers:

Sandeep Goel, Managing Director, Moglix, Singapore
Ankit Fatehpuria, Co-Founder, Zetwerk, India
Ezhilan Nanmaran, Head of Product and Strategic Partnerships, ideaForge Technology, India

Moderated by:

Shubhankar Bhattacharya, General Partner, Foundamental, Germany

14:30 - 15:30 | Learning from 2023: The trends shaping the evolution of VC/startup ecosystems and their implications

Grand Ballroom

2023 was a terrible year for a very large number of startups in most countries, with many of them not able to survive the funding crisis, the sharp decline of valuations, and the ruthless scrutiny of investors about their future prospects. 2024 is seeing the emergence of a transformed startup ecosystem, with resilient startups attracting again investments and creating more solid foundation for a sustainable growth focused on profitability, on building tighter, more aligned teams, and a more strategic approach to the market.
The changes witnessed over the last two years reflect, among other things:

  • A shift from a focus on valuation to creating real value
  • A focus on capital efficiency
  • Greater investor prudence
  • Continuing to do more with less
  • Focus on adaptation and resilience

Speakers:

Madhu Gupta Khandelwal, Managing Partner, EthAum Venture Partners, Singapore
Mikihide Katsumata, President & Chief Operating Officer, Member of the Board, Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ), Japan
Nruthya Madappa, Partner & Head of Growth and Capital Development, 3one4 Capital, India
Abhay Maheshwari, Chief Financial Officer, Jupiter Capital, India

Moderated by:

Vishal Krishna, Founder, Editor and Head of Content & Media, UpStream Life, India

15:45 - 16:45 | Building the champions of the AI revolution

Grand Ballroom

India produces 16% of the world’s AI talent pool, making it one of the top three AI talent markets in the world. The number of Gen AI Indian startups has doubled in 2023, and the country’s start-up ecosystems is moving ahead developing AI-powered tools for the development and delivery of products and services. This is providing a huge addition and complementarity to the AI drive of the country’s public and private sectors.

  • How does India’s AI landscape compare with global top players AI capabilities?
  • What AI innovation partnerships can create win-win synergies?
  • What kind of quantum leap would Generative AI bring to India’s innovation capabilities?

Speakers:

Krish Ashok, Global Head consulting for AI.Cloud unit , Tata Consulting Services (TCS) India
Vinayak Hegde, CTO-in-Residence, Microsoft for Startups,USA
Francis Rousseaux, ETI Expertise France, iSPIRT, India

Moderated by:

Jose Jacob Kalayil, Director & Curator, The India Advantage Summit & Future ICT Forum, India

16:45 - 17:30 | Farewell drinks

Farewell drinks.

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2024

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ADDITIONAL SMADJA PLATFORMS

18 – 19 March 2025
Tokyo, Japan

18 – 19 February 2025

Jakarta, Indonesia

31 October – 1 November 2024
Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China

To be announced

Mexico

To be announced
Tucson, USA