Introduction:
Prime Minister has always emphasized on the development of India.Today India has become one of the world’s most fertile grounds for start-ups and growing insanely when it comes to the startup world.
Startup India:
- India has more than 100 unicorns—startups that are valued at $1 billion or more. As many as 42 unicorns appeared last year, as against 37 in the previous 10 years.
- Startup India is an initiative of the Government of India. The campaign was first announced by Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi during his speech in 15 August 2015 address from the Red Fort, in New Delhi.
- In the venture capital industry, the term unicorn refers to any startup that reaches the valuation of $1 billion.
- The term was first coined by venture capitalist Aileen Lee in 2013. Mostly, all the unicorns have brought a disruption in the field they belong to. U
- ber, for example, changed the way people commuted. Airbnb changed the way people planned their stay while travelling and Snapchat disrupted the usage of the social media network etc.
- The Indian government’s long-term strategies and concerted push through initiatives like Startup India and Digital India have joined forces with the embrace of digital finance, rise of Indian IT companies, large talent pool, increased expendable income of Indian middle class and availability of capital to significantly boost the growth of India’s startup ecosystem.
- The event was inaugurated on 16 January 2016
- The action plan of this initiative is focussing on three areas:
- Simplification and Handholding.
- Funding Support and Incentives.
- Industry-Academia Partnership and Incubation.
- A startup defined as an entity that is headquartered in India, which was opened less than 10 years ago, and has an annual turnover less than ₹100 crore.
Startups in augmenting the economic image of India
- The country has over 1.3 billion people, which provides a large market for these startups to tap into. India also has a burgeoning middle class with more disposable income than ever before.
- A supportive government: The Indian government has been very supportive of the startup ecosystem. It has been implementing policies that provide a conducive environment for businesses to grow and raise funds.
- The contribution of startups include by way of large infusion of FDI in an asset class outside of public markets, export of products and services by the country.
- India currently stands third in the global list of the number of companies that have attained unicorn status well behind the US and China, but ahead of the UK and Germany.
- Moreover, women entrepreneurs have also contributed immensely to the start-up ecosystem
- The unicorns like ola, flipkart which are consumer centric have created an alternate gig economy for workers, which gives them much needed flexibility.
- It has created an ecosystem in cities such as Bengaluru and Delhi, which has paved way for more capital and investments flowing into the nation.
Agri-tech Startup:
- The Agri-tech segment is growing at a phenomenal rate of 25% year-on-year.
- Experts view the agri-tech innovation industry as the primary driver of agricultural economics by 2020.
- The need for technological innovation to find solutions to everyday problems is the need of the hour.
- Agri-tech startups have a vast scope to enhance livelihood opportunities in rural India.
Challenges:
- Many Indian founders have a technical background and lack business knowledge.
- Finding the right investor and raising funds is difficultInformation gap exists between those who provide solutions and those who are supposed to use them.
- Startups are at a disadvantage compared to large companies in terms of market penetration.
- The present regulatory framework in which startups operate is widely seen as difficult, inefficient and unpredictable.
Conclusion:
- These factors have offered new opportunities for Indian startups and contributed to the growth of Indian technological firms, resulting in an increase in the number of unicorns.
- Startups in India are witnessing a golden chapter in the history of Indian entrepreneurship.
- However, still the Indian government has a crucial role to play in positioning India as the Tech Garage of the World.
- Indian Startups are now spread across the length and breath of the entire country.
- The shift in global focus is on promoting women entrepreneurs and fostering an inclusive and innovative environment. Efforts are also being made by diverse stakeholders in the Indian startup ecosystem to elevate domestic policies in concurrence with global trends.
- The role of the state government becomes very important in developing the necessary infrastructure and support to foster the startup ecosystem. Due to the given constraints of infrastructure and supporting services, India needs to build upon low-cost and high-impact solutions.
- Although there has been an increase in angel and venture capital funding, the amount invested must be augmented. It is crucial that the ecosystem is well integrated to connect startups to fund houses and other stakeholders.
- While it is important to elucidate overarching features of the ecosystem, this report delves deeper into the role of states and India’s federal structure in both building the ecosystem as well as closely monitoring futuristic measures that can aid India’s growth story.
