India Aspires To Be World’s Number One Startup Destination: Piyush Goyal

Piyush Goyal, the Minister of Commerce and Industry, showing his confidence on the country’s startup ecosystem, has recently said that India aspires to become the largest startup ecosystem in the world. 

While addressing ‘Gateway to Growth – Roundtable on Indian Startup Ecosystem’ session at Expo 2020 Dubai, Goyal stated, “Today, we are the third largest startup ecosystem, but our aspiration is to be the world’s number one startup destination. The startup bug has caught India’s imagination. The entire innovation ecosystem that the startup industry represents is giving a new direction, new momentum to India.”

The session was co-chaired by the UAE Minister of State for Entrepreneurship and SMEs, Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, Dr Thani Zeyoudi–Minister for International Trade and Mohamed Al Sharaf, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Economic Development Department. 

Representatives of ADGM, ADQ, Mubadala, Masdar, ADIO, AD Residents Office, G42, Hub71, Ardent Advisory and Chimera Investment, among others also participated in the session.

Goyal further appreciated the promotion of Indian startups by the India Innovation Hub platform under the India Pavilion. 

Goyal added, “India offers one of the best ecosystems for startups with a special blend between investors and entrepreneurs to get a balanced outcome and achieve a win-win solution for all. I have seen tremendous response from the Dubai Expo where our startups have got the opportunity to raise finances, sign MoUs and get angel investments. All these aspects will help strengthen India’s strong bond of friendship with the UAE.”

In total, 700 Indian startups have showcased themselves at the Expo 2020 Dubai.

Talking about the Indian government’s role in promoting startups, Goyal said that India needs to provide the level playing field and best business ecosystem to the startups.

The Indian government has recently finalised the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with the UAE that will enhance bilateral trade, B2B engagement and explore investment opportunities. 

As Goyal said, the association between the two nations will be taken to newer heights in the areas of sustainability, aerospace, space technology, connectivity, AI, data analytics, 5G, and Metaverse, etc. Both the countries are further planning to leverage each other’s offerings and expertise.

Recently, the Indian Parliament informed that the number of recognised startups in India has increased from 726 in FY 2016-17 to 65,861 as on March 14th 2021.   

Then he said, “The recognised startups are spread across over 640 districts and have reported a creation of more than seven lakh jobs with an average of 11 jobs being created by them. These startups are spread across 56 diversified sectors such as IT services, finance technology, technology hardware, enterprise software, artificial intelligence, and nanotechnology.”

And if we talk about funding, according to the data recorded by Inc42, Indian startups raised over $42 Bn across 1,583 deals in 2021. 

Further, 98 unicorns have been produced in India so far indicating growth potential, favourable business environment and growing investors’ confidence. Analysing the growth potential that the domestic startup ecosystem posseses, reaching the numero uno destination doesn’t look like far-fetched, anymore.