 "Piyush Goyal")
Indian startups are the backbone of new India, and it was "our time under the sun," Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said on Tuesday at the curtain raiser event for the upcoming three-day 'Startup Mahakumbh' at Bharat Mandapam. He added that the startup sector had proved its capability by innovating with ideas across sectors like mobility, food, and textiles.
“The Sun is rising and it's our time under the Sun. I hope we don’t miss the bus. The message goes loud and clear to all startups, not to lose this opportunity,” Goyal said.
The event, which starts on March 18 will be a platform to showcase India’s success stories built over the last decade and show the world that India has "emerged as a global leader,” Goyal said.
"...It is this young India that is going to shape our destiny...as we transition from $3.5 trillion economy to a $35 trillion economy, when we celebrate 100 years of independence in 2047," he added.
Organised by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham), National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom), Bootstrap Incubation & Advisory Foundation, TiE, and the Indian Venture and Alternate Capital Association (IVCA), the first-of-its-kind event is expected to have participation from more than 1,000 high-potential startups across India and the globe.
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Shri Sanjiv, joint secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), said more than 1,000 startups, over 1,000 investors, over 500 incubators were likely to participate at the event. "We have also invited 21 startup bridge countries to actively participate and engage with startups and inspire them during Startup Mahakumbh," Sanjiv added.
Key global and Indian stakeholders such as unicorn startups, global and domestic venture capitalists, companies, and industry leaders will also participate.
To assist the growth of the startup world, the event also unveiled the Bharat Startup Ecosystem Registry, a single-platform database for startups, to unify “all stakeholders under a cohesive framework fostering seamless coordination and facilitating networking opportunities.”
“There is no better time to position India as the startup hub on the global map. We hope that the March 18-20 event will be pretty historic. We will host 100s of startups across different states and districts, with an international touch. During Startup Mahakumbh, our efforts are to ensure focus on everything starting from B2B, SaaS to pharmacy, agritech, and everything,” said former KKR CEO and organising committee member of Startup Mahakumbh, Sanjay Nayar.
Prashanth Prakash, partner, Accel, said: “Startup Mahakumbh will act as a platform that will bring real innovators together in front of founders and funders both, who have succeeded and failed and can learn from each other".
