India set to have 100 unicorns by next year
The Middle East and South Asia are expected to be the best markets for Indian startups, given the proximity, familiarity as well as similarity in market expectations, High Commissioner P. Kumaran told the first of a series of cross-border collaborations to encourage start-ups to take advantage of the Singapore-India trade and technology corridor.
He also highlighted that India is now the third largest home of unicorns, with the number expected to reach 100 by next year. Twelve unicorns were born in 2020 and this year has already seen the birth of 10 unicorns in the first four months. In 2014, only 4 start-ups in India were in the Unicorn club.
Start-ups are catalysts for radical innovation and have emerged as key enablers for employment generation and wealth creation, aiding economic development in general. It was with this expectation that the Prime Minister of India launched the ‘Startup India’ initiative in January 2016.
“India is today the third largest start-up ecosystem in the world, with over 45,000 start-ups in various stages,” he said at the virtual commemoration of start-up “Launchpad 2021” by the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI) and Start-up Incubation and Innovation Centre (SIIC) of IIT-Kanpur.
SICCI and SIIC have come together to provide a gateway of opportunities to tech-based start-ups to usher a circular economy and an entrepreneurial ecosystem. The LaunchPad 2021 was conducted on 23 April 2021.
A number of new policy reforms were undertaken by the government as part of ‘Startup India’. These include the incorporation of One Person Companies (OPCs); extension of eligibility for claiming tax holidays by one year, i.e., until 31 March 2022; permitting startups to self-certify their compliance under 6 Labour and 3 Environment laws for a period of 3 to 5 years from the date of incorporation; fast-tracking patent applications of startups for examination and disposal; relaxation of norms in all public procurements for startups; and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) bringing startups under the purview of priority sector lending (PSL).
“Supported by these and other measures in the pipeline, India’s startup ecosystem is expected to witness explosive growth in the coming years,” said the High Commissioner.
He also gave an update on the High Commission’s India-Singapore Entrepreneurship Bridge’. under the brand name ‘InSpreneur’, which was launched in 2017. The idea was to create a vibrant forum for entrepreneurs and innovators from India and Singapore to interact with each other, and connect with investors and market enablers – so as to establish meaningful partnerships.
“We have since held three editions under this umbrella, coupled with several curated pitching sessions in a number of promising sectors, working with key partners such as NASSCOM and CII. Several more are being planned in the coming months,” he said.
He applauded the SICCI-SIIC for coming together to further the objective of bringing together the Indian and Singaporean startup eco-systems.
“I am also personally delighted that our top engineering institutions are now paying much greater attention to innovation, entrepreneurship and fostering a startup culture amongst our talented youth,” said the envoy. #technology #startups #investment #seeds #funding /fiinews.com
