Reach Out To Potential Startups, Offer Them Support: MoS Jitendra Singh To Officials

Minister of State for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh on Friday (July 8) directed government officials and agencies to reach out to potential startups and offer them support.

Addressing an event organised at Uttar Pradesh’s Moradabad, Singh also called for launching a countrywide hunt for innovative young minds and potential startups, adding that these would shape the country’s future economy.

“Reach out to potential startups, support them, and also offer support to those who themselves reach out to us. This way, we will not miss out on many a deserving innovative minds whose startup initiatives may not have taken off because of inadequate support or resources,” he said.

He also highlighted that the Department of Science and Technology would take up a mentorship role to promote startups in Tier-2, 3 cities in areas such as ecommerce, fintech, edtech and biotech. 

Singh also called for attracting students towards science and technology domains. “India needs to attract talented young students into science and give them a supportive, creative, and challenging educational environment from their school days so that they can become successful entrepreneurs and job givers through innovative ventures,” he added

Citing news reports, Singh said that 50% of the country’s startups have emerged from Tier-2, 3 cities, where opportunities and resources are comparatively less. 

Earlier this week, the government released the results of States’ Startup Ranking 2021. While Karnataka and Gujarat led the pack, Bihar and Ladakh emerged as the emerging startup ecosystems in the country.

The government is focusing on developing the startup ecosystem in the country and spurring entrepreneurship in smaller cities and towns. In May this year, Minister of State Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that the next wave of startups in the country would come from Tier-2, 3 cities.

In June this year, MoS Anupriya Patel also noted that the government is ‘leaving no stone unturned’ to give impetus to startups in smaller cities and towns. 

While Bengaluru, Delhi-NCR and Mumbai continue to lead the country as startup hubs, entrepreneurs from smaller towns and cities continue to be plagued by a slew of issues ranging from lack of skilled manpower to the absence of good venture funds. Paucity of resources to scale up and information about emerging technologies add to the headache faced by emerging companies.

Despite this, startups from smaller cities and towns have made a mark. Jaipur-based auto classifieds platform CarDekho turned unicorn after raising $250 Mn in October last year. A day ago, Surat-based EV logistics platform EVIFY bagged $100K in seed funding led by a clutch of angel investors. 

Earlier this month, Google India also launched a nine-week programme to enable 10,000 startups in Tier-2, 3 cities in the country.

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