50 African Startups to Participate in JanAI Vishwa Utsav 2027 in Bengaluru as India and Africa Deepen AI and Entrepreneurship Collaboration

JanAI and the India-Africa Entrepreneurs Forum (IAEF) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish an India-Africa AI Bridge, marking the first major step in JanAI’s broader effort to build a Global South Bridge for AI, entrepreneurship and grassroots innovation.

The partnership will create new opportunities for startups, entrepreneurs, investors, universities and innovators from India and Africa to collaborate on artificial intelligence and emerging technologies. It was announced during United Nations General Assembly High-Level Week in New York, and builds on the JanAI-IAEF engagement at the India Africa Entrepreneurship Forum in Cape Town in July 2026.

As part of the partnership, 50 African startups will participate in JanAI Vishwa Utsav 2027 in Bengaluru, scheduled for March 1-7, 2027. The startups will connect with Indian entrepreneurs, investors, universities, mentors and technology ecosystems, creating opportunities for partnerships, investment and market access.

Building a Global South Bridge

The India-Africa AI Bridge is envisaged as one of the first corridors in a wider Global South network that JanAI is building to connect communities, entrepreneurs, innovators, investors and institutions across emerging economies.

The ambition is to create a platform through which countries and communities across the Global South can exchange knowledge, identify shared challenges, build solutions and create new economic opportunities around AI.

Rather than viewing AI as a technology that flows from a handful of technology centres to the rest of the world, JanAI’s approach is to build two-way and multi-way connections between the countries and communities that are experiencing many of the same challenges – and developing their own solutions to them.

The India-Africa partnership is an early expression of this larger vision.

Madan Padaki, Founder, JanAI, said: “JanAI began by listening to the aspirations of people in villages and communities across India. We now want to connect those aspirations with the rest of the Global South. The India-Africa AI Bridge is one of the first steps towards building that larger Global South Bridge – connecting entrepreneurs, young people, investors, universities and grassroots innovators so that we can learn from each other and build together. The Global South should not merely be a consumer of AI created elsewhere; it can help shape the future of AI.”

Baljinder Sharma, Convenor of the India Africa Entrepreneurs Forum, said: “India and Africa have a powerful opportunity to shape the future of AI together, starting with the aspirations and challenges of our people. This partnership will connect African entrepreneurs with India’s innovators, investors and institutions, opening pathways to new markets and shared solutions. At JanAI Vishwa Utsav, we want those connections to become lasting collaborations that create opportunity on both continents.”

50 African Startups at JanAI Vishwa Utsav

The participation of 50 African startups will be a key component of JanAI Vishwa Utsav 2027, Bengaluru’s seven-day global AI festival.

The startups will participate in an Africa AI for Impact initiative and have opportunities to showcase their work, engage with Indian startups and investors, and explore partnerships and market opportunities.

An Africa Pavilion will provide a dedicated platform for African entrepreneurs and innovators at the festival. The India-Africa engagement will also bring entrepreneurs, investors and ecosystem leaders from the continent to Bengaluru for business and ecosystem interactions.

IAEF will also host the India edition of the India Africa Entrepreneurs Forum at JanAI Vishwa Utsav. Business leaders and successful entrepreneurs from Africa will participate, meeting Indian counterparts to explore investment, trade and joint innovation opportunities.

The Vishwa Utsav will provide the first major physical platform for the India-Africa AI Bridge, bringing the partnership from an MoU into direct interaction between founders, innovators, investors and institutions.

From Grassroots Aspirations to Global Collaboration

The Global South Bridge builds on JanAI’s grassroots approach to AI. A recent JanAI survey gathered 6,206 aspirations from young people across 28 states and 221 districts, with 63% of responses coming from villages and 15% from small towns. The largest share of respondents identified jobs and income as an area where they wanted AI to create impact, followed by education, agriculture and healthcare.

These aspirations point to a broader opportunity: AI innovation does not have to begin only in technology hubs. It can begin with the problems communities identify and the entrepreneurs who understand them.

The Global South Bridge seeks to connect these community-level aspirations with entrepreneurs, institutions and innovation ecosystems across countries and regions.

JanAI Vishwa Utsav 2027 will be an important platform for this effort, bringing together communities, entrepreneurs, startups, investors, academia, policymakers and global AI leaders in Bengaluru from March 1-7, 2027.