Softools on India Trade Mission with Deputy Mayor of London and Mayor's International Business Programme

Last month, we had the honour of being one of the 10 leading London-based companies chosen by the Mayor’s International Business Programme for their first in-person trade mission to India. by Rajesh Agrawal, the Deputy Mayor of London for Business, the 4-day trade mission spanned across two major cities of Delhi and Bengaluru with the aim to promote stronger trade and bilateral economic ties. But that wasn’t all.

We found new friends, fostered new networks, and met great personalities who are leading the tech revolution in India. Our director, Vipul Lakhani, who represented Softools at this new frontier, recalls the experience as an epic time of learning and networking with tech giants.

During phase 1, in Delhi, we met professionals from companies like HCLTech, Sopra Steria, HSBC, Grant Thornton LLP (US) and the British Business Group Delhi.

In Bengaluru, we were hosted by Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM) — who help startups scale, and have mentored 5 unicorns already, while a host of ‘soonicorns’ are a part of their thriving ecosystem. Next stop was dinner and networking at the British High Commission in India’s Bengaluru residence where we networked late into the evening.

Early morning start to battle through the Bengaluru traffic to be welcomed by Wipro who started making Vegetable Oil 75 years ago and is now a $10bn giant with 250k employees. Devender Malhotra and his team walked us through their innovation centre and kindly facilitated a 121 meeting with Kunal Chowdhary to discuss No Code and Softools.

Then onto Tata Elxsi where we learnt how they are delivering technology into products including medical device and automotive industries.

For Vipul, it was a warming nostalgic experience to visit the Tata Group, having spent his early career years at the prestigious Tata Steel in Europe.

We also discovered that Bengaluru’s complex tech ecosystem also has a thriving community of app builders who use Softools to deliver NoCode solutions to enterprises of various scales — both Indian and International. One of them, Amar, also met Vipul for an in-person chat about how he’s been building solutions for a Tier-1 Automotive manufacturer.

A wholesome trade mission, with new memories, new friends, and tons of new collaboration opportunities concluded in Bengaluru with a bang.