Tech Rocketship awards application deadline extended to June 30

The applications for Tech Rocketship Awards competition, an initiative by UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) in India are open till June 30. Applicants can find the details on Tech Rocketship Awards website.

The award provides top Indian young entrepreneurs with expert business advice and support to help them go global through the UK. This year has seen a record number of applicants vying to be one of ten winners of a trip to the UK.

The competition opened for applicants on April 11 at a launch by Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in Mumbai. Over 400 top quality young entrepreneurs have applied so far.

"We are very pleased at the level of high quality interest in the competition. Even after we closed the deadline for entries on 12 June, a number of very good applications have come in. We have therefore decided to extend it for a few more days to ensure no one misses out. We are looking for the next batch of leading Indian young entrepreneurs who have the potential to change the world through their innovations. The Tech Rocketship Awards will provide them with the platform to take the plunge overseas and put them on the right path to realising their global ambitions", said Amo Kalar, Deputy Director UKTI India.

Now in its third year, the competition will enable top young entrepreneurs to raise their profile with UK and Indian investors. The ten most promising businesses will win a week-long business trip to the UK. There they will experience the UK's burgeoning tech ecosystem first hand, meeting UK venture capitalists, mentors, entrepreneurs and incubators, as well as experts from UKTI and leading professional services firms who will guide them on how to establish a firm footing abroad.

This year's high profile judges include Anand Mahindra; T.V. Mohandas Pai, of Aarin Capital; Saurabh Srivastava of the Indian Angel Network; self-made entrepreneur Kiran Mazumdar Shaw; and young entrepreneur Shradha Sharma of YourStory, a leading tech media platform.

Applications are open to entrepreneurs under 40 in India who have been operating a company created from the year 2000 onwards. One winner will be selected from each of five categories - cleantech, edtech, fintech, medtech and smart manufacturing - and a further five winners will be selected in the 'Judges' Awards' section, from any sector. The winners will be announced at the UK-India Technology Summit in New Delhi, in November 2016.

The six winners from last year's competition will soon be participating in London Technology Week (June 20-26) - a festival of live events taking place throughout the UK's capital to celebrate London as a global powerhouse of tech innovation. While in London, the winners will meet and learn from top tech enterprise figures. Two winners from last year, Project Mudra (Braille learning) and FT cash (A mobile app for micro-merchants), were featured at the royal launch in April and were lauded by the judges for their innovations.