Start-up Exhibition and Expo featuring 42 start-ups from different sectors such as agriculture, IT, food, health, handicraft, tourism and restaurant and construction was held on Monday.

Organised jointly by the Industrial Enterprise Development Institute (IEDI) and Antarprerana, the one-day event aimed to establish linkages between start-ups and big ventures besides exhibiting their products.

Ananda Bahadur Shrestha, executive director of the IEDI, said the objective of the fair was to encourage start-ups in the country.

Antarprerana has been providing mentorship to start-ups for two months. “We organised the expo to allow start-ups to gain real market experience,” said Niraj Khanal, CEO of Antarprerana. “The kind of participation seen at the event shows that youths have interest in multiple sectors.” The company is planning organise a bigger expo in the future.

One of the highlights of the expo was Swad Gazzabko. Four years ago, four people started a lunch box delivery service by opening Swad Gazzabko at New Baneshwor seeing good scope for the business. Now, it specialises in delivering lunch boxes to offices, schools and colleges, small parties, catering services, meetings and seminars.

“We got an opportunity to meet with different types of people through the expo. It is definitely going to help us expand our business,” said Sabi Singh, CEO of Online Aausadhi, another start-up at the expo.

Online Aausadhi is a medicine shop that has been providing online delivery of medicines from January 2016. It is the first company to provide this kind of service in the country.

The online shop keeps records of customers who take medicines on a regular basis for lifelong diseases. “Start-ups need exposure, and this type of platform provides immense opportunities to meet with investors and customers,” said the participants.