University Vice Principal Professor Dominic Houlihan joined business leaders and entrepreneurs at a workshop in New Delhi last weekend as part of the Prime Minister’s visit to India.
The visit was organised by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC), the lead organisation supporting the promotion of bilateral trade, business and investment opportunities between India and the UK. The workshop was aimed at encouraging cross-border investment in start up and early-stage businesses.
The event followed Prime Minister Gordon Brown's announcement of the launch of UKIBC's UK India Business Angel Network, in partnership with the UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) Global Entrepreneurship Programme.
Professor Houlihan expressed his delight at the opportunity to be invited to be part of such a high profile delegation, saying: "It's very exciting to be in at the beginning of what we hope will mean increased interaction with India in areas of research and its commercialisation."
The workshop, held at the Taj Palace Hotel in New Delhi featured speakers such as Dragon's Den panellist Peter Jones; Oliver Woolley, Director of the British Business Angels Association and a Partner at Envestors LLP; Alpesh Patel, UKTI Dealmaker and Sharon Bamford, Chief Executive of UKIBC. The Indian panellists comprised leading Angel investors including Saurabh Srivastava, Dan Sandhu, Rohit Chand and successful entrepreneurs like Sanjiv Bikhchandani of naukri.com and Ashok Trivedi of Igate.
The UK India Business Angel Network is a key project of UKIBC's Next Generation India programme. Next Generation India seeks to position a 21st Century India and educate the UK market on opportunities emerging from talent, trends and technology in India.
UKIBC will play an influential role in creating and sustaining an environment in which free-trade and investment flourishes. A key objective in this regard will be the highlighting, and dismantling, of bureaucratic and regulatory barriers to entry.
The UKIBC, which is chaired by Lord Karan Bilimoria and whose Chief Executive is Sharon Bamford, operates under the Indo British Partnership, created in 1993 by the then British and Indian prime ministers.
Sharon Bamford commented: "Understanding the process of how investment decisions are made is a key factor in the success of start-ups. It is not through a lack of enterprise, but basic understanding on how investment works that can inhibit emerging companies from reaching their full potential. There simply is not enough information and expertise being shared. This workshop marks the start of a new chapter in information sharing which will benefit the business communities in both countries enormously."