Swissnex India: Five reports for Swiss start-ups about the Indian market

Please login or
register

Ritah Ayebare Nyakato / Stefan Kyora

11.03.2016

India is a fast growing economy that has not gained adequate international attention, yet its market offers considerable opportunities to international ventures. Swissnex India provides the most essential information in regards to the current state of India and the opportunities for Swiss start-ups and SMEs in five reports.

Swissnex India connects Switzerland and India in the fields of science, education, art and innovation. The organisation has just published five reports focusing on different topics including ICT, Clean-tech, social entrepreneurship, IP and the “The Legal Handbook of India”, provide an insight into the Indian economy illustrating how the economy evolved. The reports also address the opportunities that await Swiss start-ups and SME given that they establish relations with India.

The five topics:

ICT
India has witnessed a tremendous growth in the ICT sector over the past two decades with several multinational companies, SMEs and start-ups making inroads into the Indian market. One of India’s most popular success stories entails the rise of Indian economy as a global ICT powerhouse. Its dominance in the IT sector worldwide has catapulted its economy into becoming one among the largest in the world. The boom of the domestic ICT sector has spurred a wide range of opportunities for foreign firms to enter India.

India offers major advantages to international ventures such as

  • a large and growing domestic market for technologies, services and products in multiple domains,

  • a large ecosystem of young and reasonably well-trained employees,

  • significant cost advantages and

  • an environment of support from the government to enable international ventures to target overseas markets as well.

Cleantech
India has witnessed significant growth in the clean technology market over the past few years.  This has increased opportunities for Swiss entrepreneurs and SMEs to offer products as well as technologies in multiple areas including generation, distribution and storage of clean energy, as well as opportunities for recycling multiple forms of products. Specifically, opportunities exist for providing technology and consulting in the offshore wind energy market. In the biofuel space, there are opportunities for setting up small plants to cater to local populations. Water treatment offers opportunities in the area of technology transfer.

Social Entrepreneurship
Opportunities for social entrepreneurs and other social stakeholders from Switzerland in India are countless. The main reasons for Swiss social stakeholders to focus on the Indian market are the large number of people, the relative low cost of establishing a company, the vibrant social enterprise ecosystem and India’s challenges with poverty. Furthermore, India’s social entrepreneurship ecosystem is one of the most sophisticated in the world, giving multiple possibilities to connect with local partners, to learn and to pursue innovative solutions to one of India’s numerous social challenges in the fields of education, agriculture, healthcare, renewable energy, manufacturing and skills development.

IP
For a start-up company, Intellectual Property forms one of the most valuable assets and it is essential that the IP is well protected. It is thus important for Swiss start-ups to take adequate measures to protect their IP in India. IP protection requires a holistic approach – where the creator uses defensive strategies like conducting patent/trademark availability searches; registering the work and using symbols like ®, ™, ©, ‘Patent Pending’, etc., in order to convey to the world that the work is protected. At the same time, it is necessary to use offensive techniques like filing an infringement suit, in certain situations, where IP rights are being violated by a third party. The report provides information about different types of IP (patents, trademarks, copyright, design protection) and gives valuable recommendations for start-ups.

The Legal Handbook
India, being a stable democracy with a strong judiciary and a free press is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. The Government of India has formulated a policy framework which regulates the inflow of foreign investment into India and offers compelling opportunities to the global investment community. The regulations have been progressively liberalized to make the process transparent and easy to comprehend. This background hence indicates that vast investment opportunities exist for Swiss entrepreneurs and SMEs to offer products and services in multiple areas including telecommunications, information technology, auto components, chemicals, apparels, pharmaceuticals, multi-brand retail, civil aviation etc.

For detailed reports visit Swissnex India: http://www.swissnexindia.org/services/for-startups/what-we-offer-2/reports-for-swiss-starups/

0Comments

rss