Panelists at one of the sessions on the first day of Progressive Punjab Investors Summit 2019.on Thursday mooted the development of Mohali as the world’s first startup valley, inviting talent and venture capital from all over the world. One of the panelists, at the 90-minute session dedicated to the Startup ecosystem, suggested creating a ‘Shivalik Valley’ for startups in Mohali given the inherent strengths of the region .The panel members, representing stakeholders of the Startup ecosystem, included Padmaja Ruparel, Co-Founder at Indian Angel Network & Founding Partner IAN Fund, Nandu Nandkishore, Professor at Indian Business School and Former EVP & Head of Asia, Africa & Oceania at Nestlé S.A, Switzerland, Akshay Sangwan, Executive Director, Sonalika Industries, Kunal Upadhyay, Co-founder & Managing Partner, Bharat Fund and Taranjeet Bhamra, Founder, AgNext Technologies.The panelists stressed upon the need for Interdisciplinary joint research among various prestigious institutes of the region to make Punjab intellectually rich and create intellectually property. Joint innovative projects should be carried out, and the same should be promoted and supported by the government, they said.‘Innovation and Entrepreneurship are crucial for the future growth of the state’s economy and Punjab has all the elements available to make the state the next startup hub of the country, to eventually grow rapidly across the globe,’ they asserted.Presenting her views during the discussion, Padmaja Ruparel said that the summit had brought together startups, entrepreneurs and investors, policymakers on a single platform to take India to the world.Nandu Nandkishore said Punjab was fast becoming an startup hub, while Kunal Upadhyay said the state had all the ingredients needed for the same.Kunal Upadhyaya, CO-founder, Bharat Fund, stressed on the combination of ‘geeks’ & ‘money’ for making startups click. Taranjeet Bhamra stressed upon the need to create a central pool of talent for the rapid growth of startup culture in the state. Tanu Kashyap, Joint Development. Commissioner, Rural Development & Panchayats, Director IT cum State Startup Nodal Officer, highlighted the key strengths of Punjab along with the attractive business opportunities available for startups in the state.Param Singh, Founder MoooFarms, while sharing his experience of building a successful startup in Punjab, said his startup, based on facial recognition of cattle, had trained over 30,000 women and farmers.