Investors Reckon G20 Presidency A Shot In The Arm For Indian Startups

As the G20 Summit kicks off on September 9th in New Delhi, Indian investors are optimistic about the positive repercussions that India’s leadership of this eminent economic forum could have on the country’s startup ecosystem.

According to ‘The State Of Indian Startup Ecosystem Survey 2023’ conducted by Inc42, 75% of Indian investors who participated in the survey believed that hosting the G20 summit would bring about a positive impact on the Indian startup ecosystem.

Given India’s status as the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem, foreign investors have been highly interested in homegrown startups. 

This has, however, given rise to a paradox in the country’s startup space — while investors active in India have accumulated dry powder worth nearly $22 Bn since the start of last year, startup funding has hit rock bottom.

The survey, which included opinions of more than 70 active venture capital (VC) funds in the country, also attributed a boost of 5-10% to India’s GDP by the end of the decade as a direct result of India’s startup boom.

The G20, which features 19 member countries, the European Union and nine invitee countries, represents 85% of the global GDP, more than 75% of the global trade and about two-thirds of the world population. 

This year’s summit will likely witness countries deliberating on sectors like fintech, agritech, healthtech and digital public infrastructure like UPI and India Stack. However, what is anticipated to stand out is their stance on how to regulate cryptocurrencies.

India took over the reins of the G20 this year from Indonesia and will be succeeded by Brazil in 2024. Since India assumed the presidency, the country has introduced several startup-specific initiatives. The most important of these initiatives remains Startup20, an official engagement group under India’s presidency for 2023.

Startup20: India’s Bid To Boost Global Startup Ecosystem

The Startup20 member countries feature more than 1,200 unicorns, 750K-plus startups, 21K+ investors and over 41K incubators, according to the Startup20’s website.

Not just this, Startup20 is a key platform to initiate a dialogue between the stakeholders of the global startup ecosystem and G20 leaders regarding macroeconomic concerns and challenges faced by entrepreneurs.

The G20 has set up several task forces under Startup20 India, including one each for Finance, Foundation and Alliances, and Inclusion and Sustainability. These task forces are being headed by some veterans of the Indian startup ecosystem.

For instance, the Finance task force is being chaired by Paytm founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma, along with PHDCCI president Saket Dalmia and Peak XV Partners’ MD Rajan Anandan. Other members of the Finance task force include Zerodha founder Nithin Kamath and upGrad chairperson Ronnie Screwvala.

Similarly, multiple veteran Indian venture capitalists, startup founders and academicians are members of the other task forces. These include the likes of Infosys cofounder Kris Gopalkrishnan, TVS Capital Fund’s chair and MD Gopal Srinivasan, Da Milano chair Shivani Malik, and NASSCOM president Debjani Ghosh, et al.

Beyond Startup20, the Indian G20 presidency also saw the introduction of Business20 (B20) India, an official G20 dialogue forum with the global business community. B20 India is working on the theme of RAISE – Responsible, Accelerated, Innovative, Sustainable, Equitable Businesses – and features seven task forces and two action councils.