How can Indians Set Up Start Up Ventures in Canada?

Canada offers very good opportunity to Indian start ups to expand there. DQ Channels talked to Nadira Hamid CEO, Indo-Canadian Business Chamber (ICBC), Ameya Prabhu, Chair, ICBC Start-Up council and Founder & MD, NAFA Capital Advisors and Dr Anish Shah, MD & CEO Mahindra and Mahindra.

How does the ICBC help the Indian startups in sustainable tech and in Smart Tech to expand in Canada? What are the opportunities for the Indian startups in these segments from ICBC and from the Canadian got? 

Ameya Prabhu- I think that ICBC is very keen to promote Indian startups which can benefit from the Canadian & the North American Market and using Canada as a platform into North America because Canada as a country is a resource economy, so agriculture, Energy and of course mining is a large part of Canada, and if you think of it historically companies like North Trail etc., have also come out of Canada so there has been a tech element. But I think going forward, we need to engage with more countries like India which are creating the next generation tech and use Canada as a platform. So we will definitely be assisting Indian companies access the Canadian Market. both the accelerators and investors as well as the launch pads for Start ups in Canada. We also will be looking at the corporate connects because ICBC has several large corporates which are members of the ICBC so depending on the start up and the sector. I think the one big problem start ups always have is funding is one issue but of course business is another issue. Business as in orders and revenues so we assist in connecting them with corporate as well so that’s something which we want to do. So that’s what we are looking in building out and based on the starts up. And this will be both ways, It’s just won’t be Indian Start ups in Canada but also Canadian start ups specially guys who are doing a phenomenal work in mining and Edtech and other sectors. For them to get into India and also to look at the Indian Market because Indian market can be complex both from a regulatory stand point and structuring stand point and also from the corporate connect stand point, we will definitely be taking it forward.

How do Mahindra & Mahindra and NAFA Capital help the ICBC in helping the Indian startups to expand to Canada? 

Ameya Prabhu- NAFA Capitals run very asset management business and we are well connected with Indian start up eco system and of course have several foreign investing company as well, so I think the companies which are keen to enter the Canadian Market Portfolio & investing companies certainly will engage with ICBC and seek both capital raising and market opportunities in Canada for our companies. Secondly, I think we can also assist, I would say, through a network  because we are in touch with the several of the VC’s and other investors in the market so we will also reach out to them to get the deal flow for taking some of our companies to Canada and also the VC’s to Canada because that would be quite useful for them to tap into the North American Market so I think one should look Canada as a platform and not the just for  Canada but for the entire North American Market. It’s a country that’s friendly, It’s a country that has capital and has a decent size market but very large land mass. So it’s also an area where one can think of companies which could even require resources in startups. Not just tech companies but tech which require resources so we can consider that.  So that’s just a background and we look forward to engaging both with India and Canada on this.

What are the strategies planned by the ICBC to promote the concept of ESG in both India &Canada?

Nadira Hamid- ESG is increasingly becomingly a very crucial element in the bilateral trade corridor for India & Canada. As a Chamber, our priorities are to bring together our government and corporate members from both countries who can assist in the ESG transition. As one of the key requirements of Canadian companies seeking partnerships is to ensure Indian companies are ESG compliant, the Chamber's strategy is to involve Indian companies in pertinent workshops which would impart knowledge and educate them sufficiently for international norms. Secondly, the Chamber's aim is to also further inculcate that while the practice of ESG compliance is necessary for international recognition, the actual ESG scope of areas related to climate change, environment, social, and governance are very beneficial for their own business to achieve long term performance advantages.

How is the business chamber and M&M along with the High Commission of Canada working to promote ESG to Canadian Companies?

Nadira Hamid- The Chamber's existing virtual activities across sectors like infrastructure, energy, education, investments have all provided the preliminary visibility and subtle advocacy on ESG concepts in one way or the other. The Chamber, along with its partners aims to build on the active foundation with more precision-driven activities for Canadian companies. The emphasis will be on B2B meetings in addition to streamlined verticals within the Chamber such as in the Education & Startup sectors.

What are the new ESG policies for ESG startups? 

Dr Anish Shah- My advice to startups would be to pursue ESG ideas aggressively. We, at M&M, believe that ESG, particularly Sustainability, offers the biggest business opportunity of this century.  Startups can play a huge role in bringing innovation and ESG together to create multi-fold impact.

The sustainability journey of every startup is unique, depending on its industry, location(s), value chain, investors, or customers, so it is critical to articulate a sharp, focused business plan that solves some of the business problems in a sustainable way.  Invest to build your understanding first and set credible goals with interim targets.

The most critical part is to integrate sustainability into your core processes. This means working with employees, suppliers and customers who have similar ethos and ESG awareness. As an example, you may decide to work with only those suppliers that are supporting Zero waste to landfill or Water positive, to help achieve joint ESG goals.  Over a period of time, you could incorporate sustainability into your organization’s business planning and capital allocation processes.

Lastly, be rigorous with your governance from day 1 - the market rewards companies that are well run. Strong and effective corporate governance helps to cultivate a company culture of integrity, leading to positive performance and a sustainable business overall.

How can the ESG goals be realised in the Corporate sector of India and Canada?  

Dr Anish Shah- ESG is one of our most critical priorities. We continue to make huge investment to lead the thinking globally in this area. Our ESG agenda includes detailed roadmap to achieve 10 specific group level ESG commitments, i.e., Water positive by 2022, 50% RE100 achievement by 2025, 60% EP100 achievement by 2026, Educate 1 million girl children per year under “Nanhi Kali” by 2026, among others. While these initiatives contribute to our target of Carbon neutrality by 2040, they also give us the opportunity to live our purpose of driving positive change in the lives of our communities to enable them to rise.

In addition, we have built a healthy portfolio of green businesses, with over $600M of investments across Solar, Electric Vehicles, Waste to energy, micro-irrigation, and auto recycling. We have not compromised on risk-adjusted return for this portfolio.

For Corporates, my advice is simple - It’s about a mindset change. Just like in other such transitions there are several myths like “it is expensive”, “it is not related to business”, “it is an additional burden”. Processes like Total Quality Management took decades to become mainstream, only this time we have a time deadline for effective climate action. We need to acknowledge that climate change is not about Sustainability OR Profit but Profit through Sustainability. The question business leaders must ask is, “how can I leverage sustainability to do better business?”. We have seen that ESG actions give great economic returns, help get funds, attract talent, help mitigate risk and make the business stronger.

Given the spurt in awareness and sustainable investing, it is time for every corporate to take cues from this and consider the ESG commitments and investments. This will create a snowball effect for a sustainable and profitable future.

Read more from Dr Archana Verma here 

Read products news here