Nasscom focus on AI Bridge, in talks with Jadeja Foundation for Valley Immersion program
BENGALURU, Feb 18: Nasscom, the National Association of Software Services Companies, has launced the Valley Immersion Objective with a view to helping AI startups expand the mindset and amplify the aspirations of Indian GenAI startups by at least 100 times.
Nasscom represents the voice of the $254 billion technology industry focused on making India the global hub of innovation and IT services with a promise of making technology humancentric by enabling the lives of people.
Ankit Bose, AI Lead of Nasscom, said the focus of the program is to develop the Silicon Valley startup mindset. The startups will gain access and exposure to the latest in AI and GenAI, learn from the successes and failures of prominent founders who have made the transition from India to the Valley, and build connections with key stakeholders that can accelerate their growth and scale.
According to him, Nasscom plans to conduct an immersive program for about 25 leading India-based (Gen)AI startups. The visit beginning from April 22 will be for a couple weeks. The visit coincides with the TiECon2025 being held from April 30 to May 2 in Silicon Valley.
The Nasscom AI team is already holding talks with TiESV for larger participation. It is also in touch with Motwani Jadeja Foundation for support for the visit of the team. The foundation recently sponsored WEF debut of 10 Indian leaders to engage with global stakeholders. The foundation also sponsored around 15 Indian startups for participation at the famous CES2025 which got over recently. CES had startups mostly from Korea, China and Japan in a big way. While other Asian countries presence was there the number of Indian participation was abysmally low. Even this was made possible thanks to Jadeja foundation, quipped Raman Narayan, a regular attendee.
The startups are expected to get a deeper understanding of the latest developments in AI and (Gen)AI technologies, and how they can be leveraged to build innovative products and solutions. It would also cultivate a Valley startup mindset, with a focus on scaling their businesses by 100 per cent. It would help build network with key stakeholders in the technology ecosystem, including industry leaders, successful founders, and influential investors. It would explore collaboration opportunities and gain insights into best practices for navigating the complex Valley landscape.
The startups will visit leading technology giants such as NVIDIA, Uber, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, and AWS. The interactions with these companies would enable Indian companies on how they can leverage these technologies to build world-class products. Narasimhan Kasthuri, founder of ScaleSV, an accelerator, said he was looking forward the Nasscom team visit. Local professional associations are excited about the visit too. Vish Arunachalam of CAStartups which is promoting startups founded by chartered accountants, said we are happy to host the team. Arun Nehru of the newly formed US Tamil Professionals Network (USTPN), who expressed similar view said we are happy to host them. ScaleSV is co-ordinating with local associations, Narasimhan Kasthuri said.
The program would include interactions with Indian founders who have successfully transitioned from India to the Silicon Valley and grown their startups to tremendous scale. Interactive meetings with the some of the Indian tech associations like various IIT groups, IITStartups, TiE, Plug n Play, ATEA and incubators like FalconX are on cards.
Nasscom also has India Immersive program where companies in other countries can understand the Indian ecosystem and business opportunities. The week-long program includes visits to cities like Bengaluru and Delhi, Mumbai, and Hyderabad. Visits will include field visits to large AI nerve centers, sources of AI talent, curated market access meetings, ecosystem mixers , comprising enterprises, local startups and investors, government representatives and academia.
