Kathmandu: The India Nepal Startup Partnership Network (IN-SPAN) Center of Excellence convened its first-ever board meeting on July 9, formally establishing the Center from the Ad-hoc Committee into a formal Executive Board. The milestone meeting marked the official launch of the Center’s governance structure and set out its priorities for the years ahead.
This is the Joint initiative of Nepal-India Chamber of Commerce & Industry (NICCI), Embassy of India, Kathmandu and IITM Pravartak, Madras, to promote Nepali youths to become entrepreneurs and provide them platform to experience and understand the overall ecosystem of start-up and incubation and also the best practices being practiced internationally.
The Center traces its origins to the IN-SPAN Program, that brought together 24 high-potential Nepali startups for a two-month immersive capacity-building and ecosystem exposure experience in India. Recognizing a shared responsibility to institutionalize that momentum beyond a single cohort, the founders proposed establishing a permanent, founder-led institution to anchor long-term bilateral collaboration between Nepal and India—a proposal that has now culminated and formalized the Center’s board.
The meeting was convened in the presence of Mr. Suman Shekhar, First Secretary (Commerce) at the Embassy of India for Nepal, Mr. Sunil K.C. President of NICCI and Mr. Marshal Rathour, Director of NICCI.
At the meeting, IN-SPAN formally constituted its Executive Board of nine members for the first tenure of three years. The newly formalized board will steer the Center’s strategy, programs, and partnerships as it works to strengthen the startup ecosystem across Nepal in collaboration with Indian institutions and stakeholders. The Executive Board for first tenure (2026-2029) comprises Asim Shrestha, President, Prabin Bhattarai, Vice-President, Shreeyanch Shrestha, General Secretary, Hrithik Babu Shrestha, Joint Secretary, Pradeep Giri, Treasurer, Mohan Tamang, Executive Member, Vishnu Kumar Agrawal, Executive Member, Nikesh Singh, Executive Member and Sunil K.C., Executive Member.
The meeting also discussed and prioritized the scope and area of work for the First Tenure. The new board outlined five key initiatives to guide the Center’s work over the next three years:
• Incubation Facility: Establish an incubation facility in Kathmandu Valley with the capacity to incubate 25 startups every year, serving as the flagship platform for the Center’s mission.
• Founder Training: Train 500 startup founders annually across multiple disciplines through monthly training programs held nationwide, in collaboration with the Embassy of India and the Nepal India Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NICCI).
• Monthly Town Halls: Host monthly town-hall programs with selected startups, featuring speakers drawn from both Nepal and India.
• Startup Helpline: Pilot a Startup Helpline, providing a dedicated phone number through which founders can call in with any startup-related challenge and receive guidance from across the ecosystem.
• Startup Sambad: Organize a bi-yearly startup conclave, “Startup Sambad,” bringing together founders, investors, and ecosystem partners from both countries.
IN-SPAN will begin implementation of its work plan with its first Town Hall, to be hosted in the last week of July 2026, marking the Center’s first public program since its formalization.
The Center also announced an institutional tie-up with IITM Pravartak, Madras for ecosystem support, further strengthening IN-SPAN’s network of technical and academic partners as it builds out its programs.
The formalization of the board and the announcement of these priorities reflect IN-SPAN’s commitment to deepening India-Nepal collaboration in entrepreneurship and innovation, and to building a robust, well-supported startup ecosystem in Nepal.
Mr. Suman Shekhar, First Secretary of the Embassy of India, expressed his happiness that the IN-SPAN Center of Excellence has been formally constituted within the year, as had been planned last year. He further conveyed his best wishes and shared that the Embassy would continue to support the youth of Nepal through this initiative.
Mr. Sunil K.C., President of NICCI, opined that this initiative was conceived jointly by NICCI and the Embassy of India over a year ago, and that it has been a privilege to support Nepali youth through it. He also shared his experience, noting that merely forming a group or entity is not the real challenge. The real challenge, he said, lies in finding the right person to lead the institution with the passion and dedication toward executing the set priorities and expected outcomes.
The India Nepal Startup Partnership Network (IN-SPAN) Center of Excellence is a permanent bilateral innovation bridge translating the momentum of the India-Nepal Startup Partnership Network into scalable venture development, technical capacity, and regional economic growth. Its vision is to build a self-sustaining bilateral startup and innovation ecosystem anchored in Nepal, where founders, researchers, and institutions from Nepal and India collaborate to create scalable ventures, deploy real-world innovation, and contribute to regional economic growth. Its mission is to enable structured incubation, cross-border collaboration, technical capacity building, and sector-focused innovation through partnerships with leading academic, industry, and research institutions.
