AMCHAM’s Manufacturing Committee organized ‘Accelerating Start-Ups with Innovation and R&D: U.S.-India Partnership’ on October 11th in Bengaluru. In the inaugural session, Ms. Payal Satish, Regional Director – Karnataka Chapter, AMCHAM welcomed members. Mr. Sanjay Koul, Vice Chair, AMCHAM and Chairman – Manufacturing Committee, AMCHAM and Chairman & Managing Director, Timken India Limited, in his opening remarks, spoke about Start-Up India and the need to collaborate, encourage and support the thriving start-up ecosystem in India. In her keynote address Ms. Meena Nagaraj, Director, Electronics, IT, BT and MD, Karnataka Innovation and Technology Society (KITS), Government of Karnataka, shared about the state’s innovation journey and highlighted the presence of many global capability centers, large AI talent pool and deep tech start-ups. In his closing remarks, Mr. Atul Dhawan, Chairman, AMCHAM and Chairperson / Partner, Deloitte South Asia, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP, emphasized the key role that start-ups play in India’s growing economy.

The panel discussion ‘Importance of Collaboration & Innovation in India’s Start-up Ecosystem’ featured speakers Mr. Girish Raghavan, Vice President, Engineering, GE Healthcare India, Vice President, Global Digital Platforms, Mr. Ashok Chandavarkar, Director – Strategic Initiatives, Intel India, Mr. Aniruddha Banerjee, Co-Founder, SwitchOn with moderation by Mr. Sudiip Goswami, Director & GM – South India & Start-Ups, Dell Technologies. The panelist touched on how corporates can help start-ups succeed, markey access challenges, successful collaboration and alliances, stages of a start-up journey and even confidence and mentor-ability of founders, among many other topics. An inquisitive audience participated in a time of Q&A with the panel.