Nepali trailblazers stand out at global startup mega event in India

In a landmark show of innovation and regional cooperation, twenty startups from Nepal are taking center stage at Startup Mahakumbh 2025 — now billed as the world’s largest startup event.

Held in New Delhi, the event features over 10,000 startups, 3,000 exhibitors, and 1,000 investors, incubators, and accelerators from across India and beyond.

The Nepal pavilion at the event was jointly inaugurated by the Nepali Ambassador to India, Dr. Shankar Sharma, and India’s Additional Secretary (North) of the Ministry of External Affairs, Munu Mahawar.

The pavilion, backed by the Indian government's Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, is hosting startups from cutting-edge sectors, including space science, information technology, artificial intelligence, climate tech, edtech, and agro-processing.

According to the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu, ten of these startup founders received direct support from the Embassy to attend the three-day summit, aimed at enhancing cross-border collaboration. “The event provides an opportunity for Nepali startups to connect with the Indian startup ecosystem,” the embassy noted.

This participation marks a significant milestone in India-Nepal startup engagement. In February, the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu hosted the second edition of the India-Nepal Startup Connect, a growing platform for entrepreneurial exchange.

According to the embassy, the collaboration has made notable progress since its inception in 2023, particularly in the incubation space, with Tribhuvan University and Kathmandu University now linked through MoUs with the Pravartak Foundation, IIT Madras’s incubator.

Speaking at a pre-event seminar in New Delhi on the future of Nepal-India relations, Ambassador Sharma emphasized that deeper economic integration is essential to strengthening cultural and people-to-people ties. “Only economic ties can help in people-to-people ties,” he said.

“We have a civilization and social connection. We have some differences, but our focus is more on economic integration,” he added.

Citing figures that underscore Nepal’s growing regional trade dependence, Sharma highlighted that two-thirds of Nepal’s trade is with India, with an $8 billion trade deficit. “We need to work on this. It is a very high trade deficit,” he stressed.

On the energy front, he noted that Nepal now exports 1,000 MW of electricity to India during the summer and has begun exporting 40 MW to Bangladesh —marking a regional milestone. Bangladesh, he said, has also shown interest in investing in Nepal’s hydropower sector.

Highlighting recent technological advancements, Sharma added that Indian travelers can now make payments in Nepal using QR codes — an indicator of growing digital and financial integration between the two nations.

He acknowledged ongoing challenges in bilateral relations, such as border issues and water-related disputes, but called for a focus on shared prosperity. “Next-door neighbors generally have some kind of differences, but our focus should be more towards economic integration,” he said.