Bengaluru to host global startups meet from today

Bangalore: An international conference for startups - the India Global Innovation Summit (IGIC) - will be held here from Thursday.

The inaugural edition of IGIC is organised by strategic advisory firm Smadja&Smadja in a partnership with Karnataka Digital Economy Mission and the support of founding sponsors Catamaran Ventures and Tata Digital.

The inaugural meeting will host more than 80 speakers from India and countries like Singapore, Israel, Switzerland, the US, Japan, Korea, and Germany, the organisers said in a statement.

The two-day conference will have 22 sessions with more than 40 international speakers deliberating over themes relevant to entrepreneurs, innovators, and top venture capitalists, it said.

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, is expected to join as the chief guest at the conference. Some of the other notable speakers include Karnataka IT Minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayan, co-founder of Infosys Limited N R Narayana Murthy, and technology forecaster and Professor at Stanford University Paul Saffo.

President, Smadja&Smadja Advisory, Claude Smadja, a former Managing Director of of the World Economic Forum, said India now ranks 46th in the Global Innovation Index, up from 66th in 2016, and has the world's third-largest start-up ecosystem.

"As a result, the India Global Innovation Connect arrives at an opportune time to highlight how India's start-up and innovation story is becoming a global story", he said.