<h1>Startup recognition growth expands nationwide and across sectors, paired with Centres of Excellence to boost innovation and capabilities.</h1> The Startup India initiative expanded recognised startups substantially between FY 2016 17 and FY 2021 22, achieving nationwide geographic spread, significant presence in Tier II/III cities, distribution across over 640 districts and reported job creation, with sectoral concentration including IT services, healthcare, education, finance technology and emerging technologies such as IoT, AI, robotics and analytics. The Government has operationalised 26 domain specific Centres of Excellence established pan India with participation from central agencies, STPI, State governments, industry partners and venture capital firms to promote innovation and capability building in emerging technology areas.