Indian Economy News

Indian startup ecosystem should eye adding 75 unicorns in 2022: Piyush Goyal

Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that the startup community should nurture 75 more unicorns in 2022, as funding for Indian startups continues to flow at a quick pace and more new-age enterprises reach a $1 billion value.

Goyal said at the Startup India Innovation Week's opening ceremony that the country now boasts roughly 82 unicorns, with more than half of them exceeding the $1 billion valuation mark last year.

"Let us target to foster another 75 unicorns this year," the minister said, noting that startups may assist in bringing healthcare to distant places as well as help India attain the government's vision of self-sufficiency.

Successful startups, he added, should make it a point to connect with entrepreneurs and startups in smaller towns and villages. In addition, businesses should attempt to serve new and untapped markets around the country, such as rural tourism.

"Our startups have turned Covid-19 into an opportunity from a crisis," the Commerce Minister stated, referring to the importance and emergence of startups amid the pandemic.

As the world continues to be hit by pandemic waves, Goyal believes that Indian entrepreneurs should focus on making startups more resilient and on making the entire world healthier.

"I believe our startups can play a critical role in democratising access to healthcare for the world's affluent and poor, for less privileged countries, less developed countries, as well as the developed world," he says.

Startups, according to the minister, were a crucial contributor in India's ascent in the global innovation index from 76 in 2014 to 46 in 2021. "Now that we have cracked the top 50, I believe we should all aim to break into the top 25 in the global innovation index, and I will urge your collaboration and assistance to make that happen," he said.

He outlined legislative initiatives to foster entrepreneurship and the startup environment, stating that patent registration fees have been dropped to 20% of what they were previously, and that the government has also provided a 50% discount on trademark filing fees, as well as tax benefits and other perks.

In the previous four years, he claims, a better intellectual property rights (IPR) regime has resulted in the registration of nearly 1 million trademarks. "I would encourage more startups to consider the intellectual property rights they are establishing as a key component of their value proposition."

Goyal claimed that the much-anticipated Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) digital strategy, which will be unveiled on January 14th at this weeklong event, will bridge the gap between global ecommerce behemoths with "huge financial muscle strength" and rising domestic digital commerce companies.

On January 13th, as part of Startup India Innovation Week, the Minister of Commerce and Industry will host a roundtable of global venture capital (VC) funds. Domestic VC funds will also be represented in the roundtable.

Anurag Jain, Secretary of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), said on Sunday that the program's primary goal is to bring together the country's key startups, entrepreneurs, investors, incubators, funding entities, banks, policymakers, and other national and international stakeholders to celebrate entrepreneurship and promote innovation.

Furthermore, according to Jain, the programme aims to exchange knowledge on nurturing startup ecosystems, developing entrepreneurial ecosystem capacities, mobilising global and domestic capital for startup investments, encouraging and inspiring the youth for innovation and entrepreneurship, providing market access opportunities to startups, and showcasing high-quality, high-technology, and frugal innovations from India.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to meet with startups through video conferencing on January 15 in a closed-door affair. The goal of the discussion is to learn how startups can help meet national needs through driving innovation in the country, and how the government can help them to do so.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.