In line with a shared vision of expanding the culture of innovation in the country, Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog and Business Sweden on behalf of India Sweden Healthcare Innovation Centre are collaborating to promote the disruptive potential of Indian entrepreneurs, and, boost the vibrant start-up ecosystem across the country.

A virtual Statement of Intent (SoI) was signed between AIM and India-Sweden Healthcare Innovation Centre here on Thursday, 20 August 2020.

Under AIM, various programmes or initiatives are being run such as Atal New India Challenge (ANIC), Atal Incubation Centre (AIC), Atal Community Innovation Centers (ACIC), Atal Tinkering Lab (ATL) and Atal Research & Innovation for Small Enterprises (ARISE). Through this collaboration, these initiatives are set to receive support by the means of conducting programs, awareness campaigns, various activities and events that would promote the overall innovation grid of both the countries through these programmes.

India-Sweden Healthcare Innovation Centre is a collaboration between AIIMS Delhi, AIIMS Jodhpur and Business Sweden. The Innovation Centre aims to create an ecosystem of open innovation and is built under strategic guidance from Government of India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Government of Sweden’s Ministry of Health and Social Affairs and Embassy of Sweden in India. It also has a strong network of ecosystem partners - Invest India, AGNII, Startup India, and knowledge partners – AstraZeneca, NASSCOM and VINNOVA. The Innovation centre has recently launched its first healthcare innovation challenge to collaborate with partners on the Innovation Centre platform to help solve some of the problems in the healthcare delivery landscape of India. Through this collaboration with Atal Innovation Mission, the India-Sweden Healthcare Innovation centre ecosystem will be further strengthened to provide all the required support to the innovators for faster scale-up of their solutions.

“We are very proud that India-Sweden Healthcare Innovation Centre is partnering with us in our endeavours to nourish the existing innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem in India while also enabling innovation collaborations with counterparts in Sweden. Such synergies will enable a vibrant growth of world class Indian startups addressing both Indian and global opportunities leveraging global partnerships and networks of Swedish companies,” Mission Director AIM, NITI Aayog R Ramanan said.

He added that the collaboration with India Sweden Healthcare Innovation Centre is in line with AIM’s various initiatives that have been taken in recent past for scaling up the country’s entrepreneurial and innovation network through several international collaborations.

Sharing further details about the SoI, he mentioned that AIM will be supporting initiatives such as Innovation Challenges, Incubation, Mentorship, access to funding networks, innovation showcase and conference events.

Meanwhile, the India Sweden Healthcare Innovation Centre has agreed to support the goals of AIM by enabling synergies towards creating a sustainable ecosystem of innovation and entrepreneurship between the two countries. This will also include building seamless experience for the start-ups onboarded at India-Sweden Innovation centre.

Virtual SoI was signed by Mission Director AIM, NITI Aayog R Ramanan and the Swedish Trade Commissioner to India, Mr. Anders Wickberg on behalf of the India Sweden Healthcare Innovation Centre

Sharing his views during the signing event, Wickberg asserted that “We are very happy to partner with AIM who has been playing a significant role in promoting Indian start-up ecosystem. The collaboration with AIM will further strengthen the India-Sweden healthcare innovation centre eco-system to enable seamless experience and faster scale-up to startups onboarded with the India-Sweden Healthcare innovation centre”

All such steps being taken by AIM, NITI Aayog are expected to shape the future of a  thriving innovation and start up economy across the country.

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VRRK/KP