Kathmandu: The valediction ceremony of the first cohort of the India–Nepal Startup Partnership Network (IN-SPAN) was held on Thursday at IIT Madras, Chennai, marking a major milestone in bilateral startup collaboration between India and Nepal. The inaugural cohort comprised 24 Nepali startups selected through a highly competitive process.
Munu Mahawar, Additional Secretary (North) at India’s Ministry of External Affairs, attended the event as the Chief Guest. Addressing the ceremony, he thanked the IIT Madras ecosystem for hosting the programme and congratulated the participating entrepreneurs, stating that IN-SPAN would play a key role in strengthening India–Nepal startup cooperation.
The eight-week, fully funded training and innovation programme was conducted at IIT Madras in collaboration with IIT Madras Pravartak Technologies Foundation. IIT Madras Pravartak has so far incubated 46 startups, of which 14 have successfully commercialized their technologies.
Representing the cohort, Yunika Bajracharya, Founder of Edavor, and Asim Shrestha, Founder of Edtraa, shared their experiences and noted that the programme exceeded their expectations. They proposed institutionalizing the learnings by establishing an IIT Madras Pravartak Centre of Excellence in Nepal.
Several senior representatives from IIT Madras and IIT Madras Pravartak, including Prof. Mangala Sundar, Prof. Gaurav Raina, Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Karanbir Singh Brar, Rajendra Mootha, and Srikanth Valuthur, also shared their insights on the programme’s impact and future potential.
The 24 startups were chosen from around 250 applications received from across Nepal. Participants represented diverse sectors such as cybersecurity, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, edtech, healthcare, drone technology, cleantech, agritech, climate tech, aerospace, and fintech.
The programme was implemented in three stages, combining academic sessions, skill-based training in emerging technologies, and internships with Indian startups. As a result, several Nepali startups forged business collaborations with Indian counterparts, while nine received incubation and investment offers from the IIT Madras Incubation Cell and IIT Madras Pravartak.
