Startup Mahakumbh Concludes On A High Note, PM Modi Reignites Entrepreneurial Spirit

The third and the final day of ‘Startup Mahakumbh’, the country’s biggest startup event, saw Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing entrepreneurs and stakeholders at New Delhi’s Bharat Mandapam.

The prime minister acknowledged the role of events like Startup Mahakumbh in giving further impetus to the country’s rapidly growing startup ecosystem.

“Today, when the nation is working on the goals set for 2047, events like Startup Mahakumbh hold specific significance. In the last (few) decades, India has left a mark in the IT and software sectors. Now, we are seeing the rise of innovation and startup culture in India,” said Modi.

The prime minister said that India now has the third-largest startup ecosystem in the world and the country is home to 1.25 Lakh startups. These startups, he said, provide employment to nearly 12 Lakh people.

About the event, Modi said, “It is ‘Mahakumbh’ in the truest sense with the entire startup ecosystem coming together. The event has brought together current as well as aspiring entrepreneurs. The startup exhibition seems to be that of unicorns and decacorns of tomorrow. India has emerged as the new hope for global startup space.”

Talking about the rapid advances in the space of artificial intelligence (AI), Modi said it will provide opportunities to young entrepreneurs. He also said that India will have an upper hand in the AI space.

Expressing confidence about returning as prime minister for the third term after the upcoming general elections, Modi said startups will play a big role in making India the third-largest economy in the world during 2024-29. 

“In my third term, I will make India the third-largest economy and startups will play a big role in that jump,” the prime minister said. 

Gaming, AI & More

The third day of the event featured many other insightful sessions, including one on Bhashini by Bhashini CEO Amitabh Nag. Bhashini breaks language barriers using AI and natural language processing (NLP) to enable real-time translation between different Indian languages. 

Nag talked about the various use cases for Bhashini across sectors. For instance, it can be used to raise awareness about the Jal Jeevan Mission, empower citizen advocacy, manage civic engagement and foster community building for environmental conservation. 

“We are intensively training the model so that the translation is appropriate. This comes with deeply tech-integrated challenges. But we want to invite all of you to develop applications on top of this model. We will also be organising hackathons,” said Nag. 

In addition, the gaming and esports pavilion at the event hosted the playoffs and the finale of the Real Cricket 24 Tournament. It gave delegates (eCriket participants) a chance to compete and win cash prizes. 

Commenting on the experience at the Startup Mahakumbh, a spokesperson of Indian Angel Network said, “Lots of startups are coming to our booth and we are also going one-to-one to various startups for funding opportunities” 

A spokesperson of conversational AI startup Callmatic said that the event helped to engage with like-minded people and provided many opportunities for collaboration.

Approximately 1,000 startups, over 1,000 investors, 5,000 future entrepreneurs, and 40,000 business visitors attended the Startup Mahakumbh. The event fuelled the entrepreneurship wave in India and showcased innovative startups from across the country. It provided invaluable opportunities for startups to solidify their network and make their next big moves.

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