On Saturday, October 28, 2023, the Center for Emerging Markets (CEM) at Northeastern University held the second annual India summit: India – The Next Startup Nation? to explore India's vibrant startup ecosystem.

The summit featured successful CEOs and founders of Indian startups, investors, and policymakers who shared insights into India's current startup landscape and discussed how they forged their own paths to success. It built on CEM's inaugural India summit on ‘India-U.S. Partnership for Innovation,' organized in collaboration with the Consulate General of India, New York, to mark the 75th anniversary of India's independence.

Over 200 individuals attended the summit at the East Village 17th Floor Conference Facility on Northeastern University's Boston campus. More than 400 tuned in through a virtual live stream.

Following an inauguration by Hon. Randhir Jaiswal, Consul General of India, New York, attendees heard inspirational stories from founders of Indian unicorns such as Paytm and Snapdeal; founders of space exploration and healthcare startups, Skyroot Aerospace and Krsnaa Diagnostics Ltd.; leaders of Indian venture capital, crowdfunding, and impact investment companies, Blume Ventures, 1Crowd, and Omidyar Network India; and policymakers from the Government of India and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

At the end of the summit, Professor Ravi Ramamurti, Founding Director of the Center for Emerging Markets, noted “One thing I think I'm more comfortable with is removing the question mark at the end of that title. I started out saying ‘India – the Next Startup Nation?' After all the things I've heard today, I'm ready to drop the question mark.”

CEM looks forward to continuing to strengthen and develop relationships between Northeastern University's community and members of India's startup ecosystem.

The summit was part of the Vivek and Vandana Sharma India Initiative at the Center for Emerging Markets.

Vijay Shekar Sharma, Founder & CEO, Paytm
Ravi Ramamurti, Founding Director of the Center for Emerging Markets (CEM)
Hon. Randhir Jaiswal, Consul General of India, New York
Karthik Reddy (R), Co-founder & Managing Partner, Blume Ventures; Karthik Krishnan (L), Associate Professor of Finance
Kunal Bahl, Co-founder, Snapdeal & Titan Capital 
Venkat Kuppuswamy, Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship & Innovation
Pawan Kumar Chandana, Co-founder & CEO, Skyroot Aerospace
Krish Nangegadda, Chief Innovation Officer, GITAM University
Anup Kuruvilla, Co-founder & CEO, 1Crowd
Pallavi Jain (R), Cofounder & Managing Director, Krsnaa Diagnostics; Ravi Ramamurti (L), Founding Director of CEM
Sarvesh Kanodia, Director of Investments, Omidyar Network India
Ganesh Krishnamoorthy, Professor of Accounting