Nepal’s start-up scene is thriving, but China and India have yet to notice

About 350 start-ups have sprung up since 2015, the year a deadly earthquake and a blockade imposed by India nearly ruined Nepal’s economy

While they are flourishing, red tape coupled with China and India’s preference to invest in infrastructure projects may hamper the start-up scene’s growth

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Tootle is a ride-sharing app in Nepal. Photo: Handout/Tootle

Published: 2:00pm, 5 Jul 2020Updated: 8:58pm, 5 Jul 2020

When Meena Gurung graduated with a fashion degree four years ago, she headed straight home to Nepal from Ireland.

Rather than building her career overseas, the 28-year-old was keen to create her own eco-friendly clothing brand. Her dream led her to start Bora Studio, which she launched after a year-long stint as an intern for a Nepali artist.

“I always thought that we must make use of what we have and produce things of the highest quality,” Gurung said. “I want Nepal to have its own identity and become self-reliant.”

Bora Studio is among about 350 start-ups in Nepal that have sprung up since 2015 – the year tourism collapsed after a deadly earthquake killed nearly 9,000 people. Several months after that, India imposed an unofficial trade and humanitarian blockade on landlocked Nepal, causing the economy to spiral further downward.

Destroyed buildings seen in Bhaktapur after the earthquake struck Nepal on April 25, 2015. Photo: NZME

Nepal’s GDP growth fell from 3.32 per cent in 2014-15, to 0.59 per cent in 2015-16. About 5.6 million people – about one in five people in the country of 28.1 million – lost their jobs.

To help the country cope with being cut off, many entrepreneurs began providing solutions to reduce Nepal’s reliance on imports, experts said.