India’s First National Startup Day! A Milestone For Indian Startups

 “Today, India is rapidly moving towards hitting the century of the unicorns. I believe the golden era of India’s startups is starting now,” — Prime Minister Narendra Modi On National Startup Day

January 16 is a special day for startups in India. It was on this day in 2016 that the Indian government launched the Startup India initiative that has catalysed the startup ecosystem. So it’s only fitting that this is the date chosen as the National Startup Day.

While we recognise that entrepreneurs have always existed in India, the Startup India programme gave a push to new-age entrepreneurship and venture creation that has only grown bigger with each passing year.

We’ll look into what this means, but here are three important stories from the week gone by:

• ?? Thrasio In India: Ecommerce rollup pioneer Thrasio has entered India (officially) with an INR 3,750 Cr ($500 Mn) commitment and the acquisition of consumer durables brand Lifelong
• Amit Bhardwaj Passes Away: The key accused in the GainBitcoin saga, one of the world’s biggest crypto scams, has died after a cardiac arrest, sources confirmed to Inc42. The question now is what will happen to the money lost by GainBitcoin scam’s victims.

A Day To Celebrate Startups 

It was on January 16, 2016 that Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Startup India programme, a key pillar of the larger Digital India vision. And in 2022, the day marks the inaugural National Startup Day.

The Startup India Action Plan was the first dedicated government policy for startups, which looked to bring investments and grants to startups and innovation. The platform allowed entrepreneurs to register their startups, gain access to investors, secure equity-free funding, fast-track patent and trademark approval process, and comply with regulatory requirements.

The Numbers Behind Startup India: Over the past six years, the programme has made investments worth over INR 8,085 Cr (~$1.08 Bn) in 550 startups from the government’s fund of funds and has committed INR 6,495 Cr (~$873.1 Mn). As per official records, more than 61,669 startups have been recognised by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).

In 2013-14, 4,000 patents were approved, while in 2020-21, more than 28K patents were granted, while the number of trademarks registered has grown from 70K in 2013-14 to 2.5 Lakh trademarks. India’s ranking in the global innovation index has improved from 81 to 46 during this time.

Post the launch of Startup India, 26 state governments launched their startup policies, while overall 30 states have launched startup policies over the years, some predating Startup India.

Spurring Investors On: Another tangible contribution from the initiative is the way it drew in global investors to the India story. Official recognition for startups and their innovation through Startup India events have contributed to capital inflow.

Between 2016 and 2021, the Indian startup ecosystem has seen the launch of 20,000+ startups, with over $99.3 Bn raised through investments, as per Inc42 data.

The year 2021 was a landmark year thanks to $42 Bn being invested and 42 startups entering the Indian unicorn club, and 62 new startup funds. In 2021, India also had the second-highest number of mobile app downloads in the world, with over 27 Bn downloads.

Taking Startups Deeper: Government policies coupled with the establishment of the state-run incubators have also been key drivers of entrepreneurship into the heartland of India. The next big startups will emerge from among the 73 soonicorns in India, and the early-stage growth in 2021 has been more than encouraging.

Earlier this week, industry and commerce minister Piyush Goyal had called on Indian entrepreneurs to add 75 new unicorns this year.

Referring to the future prospects, Modi said that only half of India’s population is online, so the possibilities are immense for the future, and he appealed to startups to move towards villages.

“Whether it is mobile internet, broadband connectivity or physical connectivity, aspirations of villages are rising and rural and semi-urban areas are waiting for a new wave of expansion,” the PM said.

Indian Tech IPO Tracker

• Logistics unicorn Delhivery’s INR 7,640 Cr IPO is about to take off soon after the company received SEBI approval
• Mumbai-based pure-play data analytics and insights startup Course5 Intelligence (Course5i) has filed the DRHP for an INR 600 Cr IPO
• Fintech giant Pine Labs is reportedly close to a US public listing and is looking to raise $500 Mn at a valuation of $5 Bn-$7 Bn

Here’s the weekly performance of listed tech companies in the first week of the new year:

Indian Startup Funding Tracker

• ? India’s 6th Edtech Unicorn: Edtech startup LEAD became the latest startup to enter the unicorn club, raising $100 Mn led at a $1.1 Bn valuation
• Funding Update: This past week, the Indian startup ecosystem raised $697 Mn across 42 deals

Top Stories

Finally, here’s a look at the other major stories and developments from the week that went by:

• Death Of A Gig Worker: The tragic death of a Zomato delivery partner after a drunk-driving incident involving a Delhi police officer has stirred up more debate about the working conditions of gig workers
• ? Hero’s Bigger Bet On Ather: Hero MotoCorp has decided to invest a further INR 420 Cr in EV startup Ather Energy to increase its 34.8% stake
• ? Amazon’s Zing On Reliance: Amazon plans to highlight the extent of foreign investments in Reliance in its appeal against the deal with Future Group
• ? ED Vs Loan Apps: Assets of NBFC Kudos Finance were attached in relation to a probe into over three dozen predatory mobile loan apps
• ? RBI’s Fintech Focus: Will the central bank’s fintech division spur innovation and tackle challenges in fintech?
• ? YC’s Raw Deal? Investors claim Y Combinator’s new deal for startups squeezes out angels and micro VC funds while mounting pressure on founders
• ? Aadhaar 2.0: The UIDAI is working on faster Aadhaar-based solutions, automated biometric matching and increased focus on system security
• ?️ Shark Tank Trouble: Lenskart founder Peyush Bansal was caught in social media controversy after making stray comments about CAs on pitching show Shark Tank

That’s all for this week, folks. Watch out for a more data-packed newsletter every Sunday as we recap the week’s biggest stories and developments.