DCF Ventures Brings Israel Open Innovation Platform SOSA To India

Acting as an innovation bridge between the Indian and Israeli innovation ecosystems, DCF Ventures has partnered with Israel-based open innovation platform (South of Salame) SOSA. The initiative aims to facilitate a connection between the startups of two countries in the areas of fintech, big data, cleantech, insurtech, mobility solutions, industrial solutions, cybertech, supply chain management, among others.

Lakshmi Potluri, CEO of DCF Ventures, said, “There has been a longstanding relationship and mutual synergies between India and Israel. While we have some shining examples in the retail and services businesses, there are great examples of path-breaking ideas in technology, IoT, fintech, energy, and new mobility, in which India can stake a claim for global leadership.”

Founded in 2013 by 25 leading Israeli investors and high-tech entrepreneurs, SOSA is an open innovation platform that brings together startups, entrepreneurs, corporations, and investors under one roof to nurture and scale up innovation. It constitutes of more than 2,500 startups, 150 partners, and 45 investors.

On India’s potential to grow as a startup hub, the CEO of SOSA, Uzi Scheffer said, “When compared to the global entrepreneurship index, the startup universe in India lags behind at the 69th spot. With the experience SOSA has, and the global partnerships we bring, we will be able to bridge them with the requirements of organisations in India as well as internationally.”

As part of the partnership, a special team will be formed to understand and map key innovation objectives. In addition, SOSA will also enable corporations to set up innovation hubs in Israel and New York, DCF Ventures said in a media statement.

DCF Ventures will collaborate with organisations that want to establish corporate innovation programs, incubators, and accelerators or work with the Indian or Israeli startup ecosystems. DCF Ventures also offers a curated visit to Israel for CXOs interested in investing in innovation.

Startup Ecosystem: Israel, India Tie A Knot

Over the years, India and Israel have firmly established their diplomatic ties. While India is one of the largest trading partners for Israel, the two countries are actively seen collaborating in the startup domain, too.

In the most recent development, Intel and the Israeli Consulate General to South India announced a collaboration by connecting startups from both the countries. The partnership will allow Israeli startups and enterprises to launch their technology solutions in the Indian market while Intel India will extend its Maker Lab facilities to Israeli startups in the verticals of healthcare, agriculture, and road safety.

In July last year, India Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had launched a bilateral innovation challenge — the India-Israel Innovation Bridge — aimed at facilitating bilateral collaboration between startups, tech hubs, corporations, and other key innovation ecosystem players in both the countries. The event saw one of the largest business delegations ever from Israel participate in an event in India.

India has also partnered with several other countries, connecting startups to share, adopt, and learn from their ecosystems. Recently, the Indo-Dutch #StartUpLink initiative was launched to open up the Indian and Netherlands market for the startups of the two countries.

The platform, developed by Startup India in collaboration with the Netherlands Embassy, provides access to relevant information on networking, pilot opportunities, etc. Similarly, Singapore, Canada, the US, the UK, and the Middle East have also joined hands with Indian startups. With such international tie-ups, we’re likely to see more innovation to solve India’s burning issues that are curtailing its development.