Serving potential innovators and start-ups for more than two decades, the Startup Incubation and Innovation Centre (SIIC) of IIIT Kanpur is one of the oldest and most acclaimed incubator cells in the country. Till now, the department has nurtured and backed more than 100 nationwide start-ups from versatile domains.

With a vision to co-incubate Korean and Indian start-ups and for an efficient technological exchange among both countries, SIIC, IIT Kanpur signed an agreement with Korea Startup Forum during the COME UP Startup Festival, which was organized recently in Seoul.

The agreement was signed between SIIC CEO, Dr. Nikhil Agarwal and Sungjin Choi, CEO of Korea Startup Forum, during the 3-day COME UP event which was held between November 9-10.

The two-way agreement is expected to open gateways of Indian domestic markets for Korean start-ups. With this, the start-ups will be provided with an excellent ecosystem and a plethora of opportunities for the launch of their products. In return, the Indian start-ups could also benefit from innovative Korean technology solutions for developing world-class products for global customers.

Following the initiation of the collaboration between both parties, Prof. Ankush Sharma, Professor-in-charge, of Innovation and Incubation, IIT Kanpur, also extended an invitation to Korean start-ups to partially release their products in India in association with SIIC, IIT Kanpur.

Similarly, Dr Nikhil Agarwal also invited the start-ups to benefit from the incubation services at IIT Kanpur’s Artificial Intelligence Centre of Excellence in Noida.

The COME UP event is a global-level startup festival which is being organized by South Korea since 2019. All programs and events at the festival are fully led by startup founders and communities.

The COME UP event further aims to build a global network of startup communities from around the world, fostering their startup ecosystems to scale up through collaborations and exemplary innovations.