NEW YORK CITY (TIP): The Consulate General of India, New York, in association with DLabs at the Indian School of Business, DS Ventures and the Asian Indian Chamber of Commerce hosted ‘India Demo Day’ on Friday, June 5 at the Consulate Ballroom. India’s Ambassador to USA, Arun Kumar Singh inaugurated the event.

India Demo Day (IDD) is a platform designed to give Indian startups access to overseas markets and investors. The event showcased the entrepreneurial talent and potential India has to offer. Ten of the most exciting companies in the Healthcare, Education, Big Data and the Internet of Things from India – some of the fastest growing sectors in India participated in the event.

In his welcoming remarks, Consul General of India, New York, Dnyaneshwar M. Mulay reiterated that the Consulate would continue to make every effort to work as Champions in the promotion of bilateral relations between India and US.

Ambassador Arun Kumar Singh in his speech described how the Modi-led Indian government has pushed forward with the reform agenda at a remarkable speed, focusing on infrastructure development, manufacturing, technological advancement, skills development and financial inclusion, through new and innovative programs.

Welcoming the initiative he said, “Innovation and technology are two critical factors for development. Many positive developments at home have been accompanied by a fresh momentum in our bilateral relationship.”

Shwetank Verma, Founder of DS Ventures, is a serial entrepreneur and a former private equity professional. Shwetank describes the platform as “an attempt to solve two pain points felt by every entrepreneur – capital and growth.” Shwetank continues, “IDD gives these startups an opportunity to pitch to a set of investors they otherwise wouldn’t have had access to and to potential partners in a market most of them are targeting as a growth market.” Shwetank and Dheeraj Batra, CEO of DLabs at the Indian School of Business, along with other partners, developed the IDD concept over a series of conversations they had about what’s missing in the Indian ecosystem.

On the day of the event, nine startups each got a chance to make a 10-minute pitch to a crowd full of venture capitalists, industry leaders, and angel investors.