Canadian governor general visits Infosys

Canadian Governor General David Johnston Thursday visited the campus of IT bellwether Infosys Ltd and participated in an India-Canada panel discussion hosted by the Asia-Pacific Foundation.

"The panel deliberated on innovation and entrepreneurship and governments' role in simplifying rules on cross-border trade and encourage start-ups to become global," a company official said.

"Innovative solutions will come only from communities and start-ups. A collaborative framework is needed between corporates and startups to inculcate the entrepreneurial spirit in our country," said Infosys co-founder and vice chairman S. Gopalakrishnan.

Startup formations are shaping up across India with major clusters emerging in Bangalore, National Capital Region, Mumbai and Pune.

"In the biotech domain, the startup phenomenon is crucial as companies depend on each other. About 50 percent Indian biotech firms are based in Bangalore and bioinformatics has become an integral part of the ecosystem," Biocon chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw said.

Microsoft Ventures Accelerator director Kattayil Rajinish Menon, Global Sperangels Forum's Rajesh Sawhney, Desire2Learn chief executive John Baker and Lumira Capital managing general partner Peter Van Der Velden participated in the panel discussion.