Kathmandu, Nepal — July 9, 2026
Today, IN-SPAN Center of Excellence held its first board meeting, officially bringing the Center to life. Mr. Suman Shekhar, First Secretary (Commerce) at the Embassy of India for Nepal, was there to see it happen — a fitting presence, given how much this moment has been building toward.
How We Got Here
This all started with the IN-SPAN Program, a joint effort between the Embassy of India in Kathmandu and IITM Pravartak. Twenty-four promising Nepali startups spent two months immersed in India, soaking up everything from mentorship to market exposure. It was the kind of experience that’s hard to walk away from without asking: what happens after the program ends?
That question is really what led here. Rather than let the momentum fade with one cohort, the founders decided to build something that would last — a permanent, founder-led institution that could keep India and Nepal working together on entrepreneurship for years to come. Today’s board meeting is that idea, finally made real.
The Board
Nine people will lead IN-SPAN through its first three-year term:
- Asim Shrestha — President
- Prabin Bhattarai — Vice-President
- Shreeyanch Shrestha — General Secretary
- Hrithik Babu Shrestha — Joint Secretary
- Pradeep Giri — Treasurer
- Mohan Tamang — Executive Member
- Vishnu Kumar Agrawal — Executive Member
- Nikesh Singh — Executive Member
- Sunil K.C. — Executive Member
What We’re Building Toward
The board didn’t just formalize itself and call it a day — they also laid out what the next three years should look like. Five things, to be specific:
An incubation facility in Kathmandu Valley. This is the big one. The plan is to get a physical space up and running that can support 25 startups a year, giving founders a real home base instead of scattered, one-off support.
Training 500 founders a year. Monthly programs, held across Nepal, covering the range of skills startups actually need. The Embassy of India and the Nepal India Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NICCI) are coming on board to help make this happen.
Monthly town halls. A regular space for selected startups to hear from people who’ve been there — speakers from both Nepal and India, sharing what they’ve learned.
A startup helpline. Still in pilot stage, but the idea is simple: one phone number, and if you’re a founder stuck on a problem, someone in the ecosystem picks up and helps.
Startup Sambad. A conclave held twice a year, bringing founders, investors, and ecosystem partners together — a space for the kind of conversations that don’t happen enough.
First Up: A Town Hall at the Embassy
Before any of the bigger plans take shape, IN-SPAN is starting with its first town hall — hosted at the Embassy of India in the last week of July. It’ll be the Center’s first public event since today’s formalization, and a good early signal of what’s to come.
Alongside this, IN-SPAN is also announcing a new institutional partnership with IITM Pravartak, who’ll be supporting the ecosystem work going forward. It’s a natural next step, given IITM Pravartak’s role in the program that started all of this.
There’s a lot ahead, but today felt like the real starting point — the moment IN-SPAN stopped being an idea and became an institution with a board, a plan, and people ready to carry it out.
About IN-SPAN Center of Excellence
IN-SPAN Center of Excellence exists to turn the energy of the India-Nepal Startup Partnership Network into something lasting — real ventures, real technical capacity, and real economic growth across the region. The goal is a self-sustaining bilateral startup ecosystem based in Nepal, where founders, researchers, and institutions from both countries can build together. That means structured incubation, cross-border collaboration, and partnerships with academic, industry, and research institutions who share the same vision.
Learn more at inspan.org.