DPIIT launches ‘StartupShala’ flagship accelerator program for startups to encourage investments, networking and mentorship

‘How to start up’ webinars organised for students, aspiring entrepreneurs during Startup India Innovation Week

Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal, during the Startup India Innovation Week chaired a unicorn roundtable to celebrate the growth of the unicorns and chart a collaborative way forward to support the growth of more unicorns in our nation. The 40 participating unicorns highlighted their learnings from their experience, factors that enabled their growth, and identified areas to boost the growth of the Indian ecosystem that can help the nation emerge as a global startup leader. Shri Piyush Goyal urged the unicorns to come together and set up a unicorn club or association that would come up with solutions for access to capital for startups in the country. The conversation focused on streamlining regulatory processes to foster a more startup friendly environment, increasing access in Tier-2/3 cities and learning from the best practices set up by financial institutions in the private sector.

Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), this year, celebrated the coming together of the country’s key startups, entrepreneurs, investors, policy makers and other stakeholders on innovation and entrepreneurship across the country from 10th – 18th January 2024. Marquee announcements and launches included ‘StartupShala’ - Startup India’s Accelerator Program, a 3-month long accelerator program for early-stage startups to provide them access to knowledge, network, funds, and guidance required to scale up.  Each cohort of the program will be focused on a particular sector, the first one being CleanTech and 20 startups per cohort will be handpicked by experts through an open call for application. The applications have been opened on Startup India Hub from 10th January 2024: https://www.startupindia.gov.in/content/sih/en/Startup_Shala.html.

To inspire students and aspiring entrepreneurs, 5 dedicated webinars focused on ‘How to Start Up’ were organised titled ‘MAARG Mentorship Series for Budding Entrepreneurs’. Industry leaders and mentors shared insights and key lessons about the basics of starting a startup. All these sessions were hosted live on Startup India social media handles as well as on the MYBharat portal for the Yuva entrepreneurs.

Startup India Innovation Week's 75+ physical events served as a catalyst for entrepreneurship, showcasing India's thriving ecosystem and igniting the dreams of countless aspiring founders. From workshops empowering women entrepreneurs to training grounds for incubator champions, the week saw mentors and mentees sharing wisdom, igniting the minds of aspiring pioneers. Several thought-provoking roundtables were conducted in several cities with stakeholder discussions, forging alliances that will shape the future startup ecosystem.

The one-to-one mentorship of startups with corporates was also launched earlier in the week. The series included exclusive handholding and guidance to shortlisted startups with the corporates in domains of financial lending and support, operations, sustainable innovations, and disruptive technology. The corporate partners onboarded were HCL, HSBC India, Qualcomm India Private Limited, and TCS Foundation.

To create further awareness about innovation and sustainability, a virtual panel discussion was conducted with global partners of Startup India. The panel focused on the 5 key pillars of Innovation including Incubation, Funding and Financial Assistance, Public Private Partnership Model, Market Access and Government Infrastructure. A dedicated workshop was conducted in Mumbai, Maharashtra to sensitise startups on the benefits available to them on the Government e-Marketplace (GeM). A successful Workshop on Public Procurement was also conducted at the University of Hyderabad, Telangana, on 9th January 2024, which saw participation from over 70 entrepreneurs.

Startup accelerator programs expand sector-focused mentorship and regulatory streamlining to broaden market access for founders. A government initiative convened forty unicorns to propose collective solutions for startup capital access and urged regulatory streamlining and Tier-2/3 outreach. DPIIT launched StartupShala, a three-month, sector-focused accelerator selecting twenty startups per cohort through open application, alongside mentorship webinars, corporate handholding, and workshops on public procurement and Government e-Marketplace to expand market access and incubation support.