When two nations innovate together, innovation doubles, says CA Shroff
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Singapore Chapter (ICAI Singapore Chapter) is working on a mission mode to empower early-stage startups with the capital, mentorship, networks and global platforms they need to scale, the Chapter chairperson Anuradha Shroff has said.
“As we are working in a global business community, we are promoting India-Singapore startup community for long-term prosperity of the youth-led innovative businesses,” Press Trust of India quoted Shroff as saying after hosting a demo-day innovation demonstration and investor pitching sessions in Singapore on 20 Nov.
“This year is special for more reasons than one as Singapore celebrated its 60 years of independence and 60 years of diplomatic relations with India,” said the veteran of managing international businesses for over three decades.
“When two nations innovate together, innovation doubles,” underlined Shroff, adding that the cross-border programme connected startups from both countries – India has over 100,000 startups while Singapore has a growing community which is currently estimated to be closer to 50k startups.
The evening also featured a keynote address by Former Union Minister, CA Suresh Prabhu, whose insights added significant depth and direction to the event.
A cohort of twenty startups participated in the “The NEXTLEAP Accelerator Program”, an initiative by the ICAI Singapore Chapter in collaboration with BeyondSeed, an Indian-origin investor group based in Singapore supporting early-stage innovations with support from the Committee on MSME & Start-ups of ICAI.
These startups went through an intensive 8-week journey of masterclasses, 1:1 mentorship and a rigorous, multi-layer evaluation by external juries with top 10 startups pitching directly to an investor panel on the Demo Day.
Kuldeep Mirani, Founder & CEO of BeyondSeed, highlighted the India–Singapore opportunity, reinforcing the purpose behind The NEXTLEAP collaboration.
Speakers at the sessions highlighted India’s thriving startup ecosystem and shared insights on unlocking collaborative pathways.
Gyan Chandra Misra ji, Chairman, Committee on MSME & Start-ups of ICAI, elaborated on India’s dynamic economic, digital, and startup landscape – fueling optimism across the room.
Professor Ignatius Rasiah, Program Director at the National University of Singapore (NUS), spoke about innovation, leadership and the evolving startup landscape of Singapore.
The pitching round saw intense Q&A with the investor panel, who scored the presentations and announced the Top 3 Trailblazing Startups — Aeronero, eMSME and Seamless, representing founders across both India and Singapore.
Events like this reaffirm the role and vision of the ICAI Singapore Chapter in building meaningful impact within the Singapore ecosystem and strengthening India – Singapore innovation ties, said Shroff. Fiinews.com
