Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Start-up Konnect programme in Silicon Valley.
India and US have a natural partnership that shaped the knowledge economy and it was natural to pick Silicon Valley for the first overseas Startup Konnect programme, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today.
The Prime Minister was addressing the programme, which is being held on the sidelines of his visit to showcase India's start-up ecosystem to potential partners in Silicon Valley.
Forty start-ups from India are participating in the programme at San Jose, which was planned following PM Modi's "Start up India, Stand up India" call from the ramparts of the Red Fort on Independence Day.
The sectors they cover include agriculture, healthcare, energy, financial inclusion, biotechnology and technology.
Start-ups form a key part of PM Modi's campaign to encourage the spirit of entrepreneurship and create jobs in the country.
"The scale of India's development needs is huge. The need to achieve it is urgent. We cannot simply continue on traditional paths to development," he said today.
"When I shifted to Delhi last year, I thought of my government as a start-up. So, I also saw some of the bumps you face," added the Prime Minister, who attended the event after a townhall Q&A session at the Facebook headquarters and a trip to the Google campus.
At the programme, he launched the Bharat Fund, which, he said, "stands not just for India, but also for better health, agri, renewables and tech" and will provide seed funding to Indian entrepreneurs.
The day-long Startup Konnect programme is being coordinated by NASSCOM, global entrepreneurship organisation TiE and IIM Ahmedabad's Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship, or CIIE.
At the event, NASSCOM signed a memorandum with TiE Silicon Valley to facilitate a Start-up exchange and collaboration programme.