Startup India Innovation Week (10th – 16th January 2023) kick-starts today with several events across India

Workshop on Alternative Investment Funds and ASCEND SAMAGAM on Startups in Northeast

A 7-day long Startup-India Innovation Week to celebrate the National Startup Day started today across the nation with several events to reach ecosystem stakeholders and enablers. 

Following is a snap shot of events that were successfully conducted on Day 1 of the Startup India Innovation Week:

Workshop on Alternative Investment Funds

Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) organized a workshop on Alternative Investment and their Central role today, chaired by Anurag Jain, Secretary, DPIIT as part of the Startup India Innovation Week 2023 at Vanijya Bhawan, New Delhi. 

DPIIT has worked closely with the Ministry of Finance (MoF), Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), and Ministry of Labour and Employment (M/o-L&E) to allow Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) to invest in startups. 

The workshop focused on sensitizing representatives from Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), SIDBI to mobilize domestic capital into the startup ecosystem through AIFs.

The 2-hour workshop began with an overview of the startup investment landscape in India followed by sessions on Investments in AIFs, Regulatory Framework for AIFs, and opportunity by these organizations to invest in AIFs. Thereafter, Indian, and Global success stories were shared. 

ASCEND SAMAGAM

DPIIT organized the ASCEND (Accelerating Startup Calibre & Entrepreneurial Drive) SAMAGAM today as part of the Startup India Innovation Week 2023. The objective of the workshop is to capacitate and augment knowledge on key aspects of entrepreneurship and continue efforts towards creating a robust startup ecosystem in Northeast.

ASCEND Samagam is being conducted as a follow up to ASCEND Workshops organized by DPIIT for the entrepreneurs, aspiring entrepreneurs, students, and ecosystem enablers in all eight States of Northeast India during the months of November and December 2022.

The ASCEND SAMAGAM conducted in virtual mode witnessed active participation of 110+ participants across all states in Northeast states including stakeholders such as State officials, startups, and aspiring entrepreneurs.

Webinar on Founders of Today, Leaders of Tomorrow

Startup India hosted a webinar on the topic “Founders of Today, Leaders of Tomorrow” on 10^th January 2023. The session was led by three experts, including Prof. Surya Kumar, Dean - Innovation, Translation & Startups IIT Hyderabad, Chris Cander, Schulich Business School, Canada, and Prof Dhruv Nath, Angel Investor and Ex-Management Development Institute, Gurgaon.

In addition to the above, startup related events were also organised across various centres across the country:

Association For Scientific Pursuits for Innovative Research Enterprises (Hyderabad) : The centre hosted a conference on two topics: IT (Information Technology) strategy for startups and Startup Valuation at ASPIRE, University of Hyderabad. The conference was organised in a hybrid mode with participation of over 20 startups offline. Two experts from their respective fields led the conference and engaged the audience in the informative program.

Sardar Patel Technology Business Incubator (Mumbai) : The centre hosted a workshop on the topic: The Art of Pitching. Expert speaker Mr. Dinesh Israni, Naman Angels India Foundation, led the workshop which was hosted in a hybrid format. The event witnessed participation from over 40+ startups and ecosystem enablers.

Agri Business Incubation Society (Coimbatore): The centre hosted a physical program to celebrate the National Startup Day. It was inaugurated by Prof. Dr. V. Geethalakshmi, Vice-Chancellor, TNAU (Tamil Nadu Agricultural University) and the Chief Guest for the session was Dr. Rakesh Chandra Agrawal, DDG (Agricultural Education), ICAR (Indian Council of Agricultural Research), New Delhi. 120 startups registered for the event and over 100 people participated in the session. A special exhibition area was also organised for selected startups to display their innovative product and services. The event witnessed participation from government officials, startups, students, and faculty members.

SR Foundation (Warangal) : The centre hosted a physical startup innovation competition at their centre ‘SR Innovation Exchange.’ Over 78 teams applied for the first round, and 30 teams were selected for the final round, which was held at the centre today. Top 5 teams were selected as winners and facilitated with cash prizes and grants in kind. Enthusiastic participants and students were in attendance for the event.

Alternative Investment Funds investing in startups spurred by coordinated regulatory outreach expands domestic capital mobilisation for startup ecosystem. DPIIT convened a workshop on Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) with the Ministry of Finance, IRDAI, Ministry of Labour & Employment and public institutional investors to sensitise and enable institutional investment into startups by reviewing the AIF regulatory framework and sharing success stories; concurrently DPIIT ran ASCEND SAMAGAM and multiple regional events to build entrepreneurial capacity, facilitate investor engagement, and showcase incubator outcomes across the country.