Govt to help startups attract foreign funds

In a bid to attract global investors in Indian startups, the government will provide a platform where startups can register themselves highlighting their unique feature, said Ramesh Abhishek, Secretary of Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) on Tuesday.  

“The DIPP will start a new website where startups can register themselves from March 15 to March 31. The government will make sufficient advertisement for registration, which is aimed at attracting global investors and mentors, as well as providing international marketing access to local companies,” Abhishek told DH on the sidelines of workshop on Intelligent Transport System (ITS) organised by the International Road Federation (IRF) here.

“With India having the third largest startup base in the world, after the US and China, the DIPP wanted to give them international exposure by highlighting their uniqueness so that they can attract investors,” he said. 

Earlier, while addressing the gathering, he said the government will launch the virtual hub next month where details of startups, investors, mentors, and venture capitalists will put in one place. 

Though some of the startups have been able to get investment from foreign venture capitalists, the government wants more such investments to flow to Indian companies for their long-term sustainability, he said. 

Currently, around 20,000 startups are in operations in India, in which 4,500 are related to technology or IT. The government wanted to encourage startups to provide innovative solutions for challenges unique to India, especially in education, health, manufacturing, transport, agriculture and infrastructure sector, and not just be skewed towards developing apps, he said.