Rahul Gandhi to meet start-up founders in Bengaluru

Apart from Ola and Big Basket, ID Foods, Skan Ray Technologies and Robo Soft Technologies are among start-ups invited for the meeting

Congress party Vice-President Rahul Gandhi will meet founders of start-ups in Bengaluru on Friday over tea. Gandhi will meet the entrepreneurs who have been instrumental in generating employment and boosting Karnataka's economy. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is expected to be present at the meeting.

Taxi aggregator Ola and grocery portal Big Basket will be represented by their founders. Flipkart might go unrepresented because its founders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal are out of town.

ID Foods, a special foods company with a net worth of Rs 62 crore founded by Mustafa, son of an illiterate farmer, Mysuru-based Skan Ray Technologies and Udipi-based Robo Soft Technologies are among the 15 start-ups invited to the informal meeting at the Kumara Krupa state guest house. Dusters Total Solutions Services, a facility management services company that employs 25,000 people, is also among those invited.

Angel investor Praveen Chakravarthy, who was present at Gandhi's interaction with startup bosses in New Delhi in July, mooted the idea of a similar meeting in Bengaluru. The state Congress unit thereafter chipped in because Gandhi was eager to meet these young founders.

An effort was made to include not just e-commerce and technology startups, but those in other sectors known for their innovation and employment generation potential.

Gandhi is slated to hear the experiences of these entrepreneurs. With the chief minister and prominent cabinet ministers present, the discussion might veer around to what the state government can do to help. Bengaluru is home to 3,100-4,900 active technology startups, according to the Global Startup Ecosystem Ranking Report 2015. It is the only Indian city to be ranked among the top 20 startup ecosystems in the world.