On National Startup Day in 2024, learn about Startup India’s history, relevance, and founders’ perspectives.

On National Startup Day in 2024, learn about Startup India’s history, relevance, and founders’ perspectives.

The Startup India programme will celebrate its eighth anniversary in 2024. It began with 400 firms in 2016 and has since grown to over 1.18 lakh startups.

On January 16, 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Startup India programme, which aims to build a strong environment to promote businesses, encourage creativity, and attract investments in the nation’s startup sector. In order to highlight the importance of recognising businesses that support socioeconomic development, nation-building, and self-reliance, PM Modi formally declared January 16, 2022, to be National Startup Day.

The Startup India programme will celebrate its eighth anniversary in 2024. It began with 400 firms in 2016 and has since grown to over 1.18 lakh startups.

The government offers recognised businesses a number of privileges, such as tax exemption under section 80IAC of the Income-tax Act, support with patent applications, compliance self-certification for labour and environmental legislation, and more.

According to data from the Startup India website, 3,658 companies have received funding under the SIDBI Fund of Funds plan, which was formed in 2016 with a capital of Rs 10,000 crore, and 2,977 income tax exemptions have been granted thus far. The plan supplies cash to Alternative Investment cash (AIFs) with SEBI registration, also referred to as daughter funds. These AIFs then use the funds to invest in startups using stock and equity-linked instruments.

In addition to the Fund of Funds scheme, the Startup India programme includes a Seed Fund scheme that offers financial support to startups for proof of concept, prototype development, product trials, market entry, and commercialization; and a Credit Guarantee Scheme that offers credit guarantees to loans made by banks, NBFCs, venture debt funds, and other entities under SEBI registered AIFs to startups that have been recognised by DPIIT.

The winners of two of Startup India’s major programmes, the National Startup Awards 2023 and the 4th edition of the States’ Startup Ranking Framework, were revealed by DPIIT on Tuesday as part of the celebrations for National Startup Day. Later on, this list will be updated.

Meanwhile, check out some of the well-known entrepreneurs’ responses in honour of National Startup Day below. Continue reading:

ZebPay CEO Rahul Pagidipati
India has become a worldwide startup ecosystem powerhouse, exhibiting remarkable growth and promoting innovation across a wide range of industries. Because of the country’s strong entrepreneurial culture, the number of startups has dramatically increased, greatly boosting overall economic growth. Over the past few years, India’s Web 3 business has experienced amazing growth. With over 450 start-ups, India is starting to show its strength in the Web 3 domain. This demonstrates that the skill pool and startup potential in India are still strong and will only expand.

Nitya Sharma, Simpl’s founder and CEO
Startups are essential to levelling the playing field and opening up the market to millions of small businesses in the nation that are run by D2C and MSMEs in the age of unbundling e-commerce. Additionally, they support the development of consumer confidence in both online and offline retailers, which significantly accelerates the flow of products and services and helps India meet its goal of having a $5 trillion economy by 2028. This National Startup Day ought to serve as a model for the ecosystem’s expansion over the following ten years as governments, business, and academic institutions combine their resources and expertise to create a country that is genuinely digitally first and drives the global economy.

Shashank Randev, 100X.VC’s VC Founder
“2024’s National Startup Day is unique. With the capacity and perseverance to upend established markets and provide revolutionary solutions, startups are the beating core of Indian innovation. Consider this: In the last ten years alone, Indian entrepreneurs have flourished, establishing new category leaders in unexplored markets. Examples of these include Freshworks, Swiggy, Paytm, Veeba, Nykaa, and so forth. Data is the gasoline that propels progress. Being able to offer answers that change the game is a commitment to rewriting the possibilities code for a billion aspirations, not just a goal. As the voyage has just begun, fasten your seatbelt.

Pankaj Sharma, Director & Co-Founder of Log9 Materials

With more than 80,000 ventures and 100 unicorns, India’s thriving startup sector is changing course in 2024. As the fervour for funding in 2022 wanes, investors give precedence to steadiness and profitability. Anticipate calculated bets on well-established competitors, which may result in mergers and acquisitions as businesses try to maximise. This emphasis on consolidation is an indication of an ecosystem that is evolving and embracing impact investing and sustainable approaches. With a record $38 billion funded in 2023, startups addressing healthcare, education, and climate change will continue to prosper. Innovation hubs include deep tech and fintech, which are driven by AI and ML. Even though 2024 will likely be a year of modest progress, the growth embers will show the way towards a vibrant Indian startup scene that has an international impact.

Saurabh Jain, Stable Money’s co-founder

2024 provides certainty for Indian fintech, rekindling investor confidence. With a sizable pool of 92,683 recognised businesses, a strong mechanism is essential for sustainable growth, where cooperation and mentorship play critical roles in sustaining the startup ecosystem. Importantly, fintechs are not only conquering obstacles but also bolstering the financial technology sector, which is expected to reach $1.3 trillion by 2025, by reaching consumers in Tier 2, Tier 3, and rural areas.