At a conference hall in Dubai, two young companies stood before investors with a simple ask: help us grow. JE Plus Healthcare is trying to fix the distribution and logistics problems that slow the delivery of healthcare products across India. University Living helps students find cost-effective accommodation in different parts of the world. Both were seeking investment to scale up and become global enterprises, and both became the human face of a larger argument made at the Innovators and Investors Series, organised by the Indian People’s Forum in Dubai: that people building businesses, not just goods crossing borders, could carry the India-UE trade relationship to its next milestone.
The argument came from Dr Vishnu Vardhan Reddy, India’s Consul General in Dubai and the Northern Emirates. He told the gathering that bilateral trade had already crossed a remarkable threshold. India-UAE trade reached $101.25 billion, marking the second consecutive year above the $100 billion mark. India’s exports to the UAE exceeded $37.35 billion, making the UAE India’s second-largest export destination and its third-largest trading partner overall. Imports from the UAE stood at $63.89 billion, with India ranking as the UAE’s second-largest trading partner. Both nations have agreed to double bilateral trade to $200 billion by 2032.
“As the India-UAE bilateral trade exceeded the US$100 billion level, we now need to start creating new avenues of cooperation to double this to US$200 billion in the next few years,” Dr Reddy said. He pointed to where that growth might come from: “We can see the next US$100 billion growth coming from innovation, technology, start-ups, fin-techs, renewable energy, defence and space technology.”
Behind that ambition sits a vast community of founders. India has more than 797,230 start-ups, making it the third-largest start-up hub globally. Of these, 35,500 are funded companies that have collectively raised $683 billion in venture capital and private equity. The country is home to 93 unicorns. A total of 121,969 investors have taken part in 53,521 funding rounds, with 3,136 start-ups securing early-stage funding and 918 raising late-stage funding.
The past five years tell a story of both ambition and attrition. Some 113,624 new companies were founded in that period, raising over $13.9 billion. Indian start-ups have seen 5,347 acquisitions and 6,531 IPOs, while 108,614 start-ups wrapped up operations. Among the founders, 23,719 companies have been started by women. The Bharat Startup Knowledge Access Registry (BHASKAR) platform has crossed more than 660,000 users, and start-ups have generated over ₹51,000 crore in orders through the Government e-Marketplace, Dr Reddy noted.
For the diplomat, the path to $200 billion runs through these entrepreneurs. “In order to doubling our bilateral trade with the UAE, we need to create new partnerships including investment in start-ups, as India has become a breeding ground for start-ups and fin-techs who would require investment to scale up business to become global enterprises,” he said. The UAE’s business leaders and investors, he added, could help cement those partnerships and accelerate trade to the $200 billion level.
Meanwhile, among those listening was actor and investor Vivek Oberoi, who offered a candid reflection on what building companies actually feels like. “We celebrate success a lot. But we should also celebrate failure as well as it is the lessons from failure that gives us success. I have my share of failures as well,” he said. “I have invested in 35 companies, some of them didn’t do so well. But we made up with those which did well.” He argued that the UAE’s investors and institutional capital could “unleash exponential possibilities” by investing in Indian start-ups and helping them become large global businesses.
The forum’s own leaders echoed the call. Jitendra Vaidya, National President of the IPF, said the Indo-UAE relationship had reached a strategic level where two-way investment would further cement the bond for the greater benefit of both countries, and that the diaspora stood ready to contribute to that growth. Mahesh Advani, Convenor of the IPF Business Council, urged the UAE’s investors to support Indian start-ups “in a bigger way” and become part of what he called a new growth engine, with the prospect of higher returns.
Piyush Jhunjhunwala, Co-Convenor of the IPF Business and Professional Council and Founder of Stockify, framed the opportunity in personal terms for investors. Putting money into start-ups and fin-techs, especially those powered by artificial intelligence, machine learning and robotics, could “not only multiply their wealth, but also contribute to the society and the country” while helping start-ups create employment and grow into global unicorns.
For the founders on stage and the investors in the room, the message was the same: the next $100 billion in trade will be built by people, one company at a time. Whether the founders of JE Plus Healthcare and University Living count themselves among them may depend on who in that Dubai hall decides to write the first cheque.