Ali Hasan
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced seed fund worth Rs 1,000 crores for startups to set-up and grow their businesses. He also announced that the initiative will be also launching a dedicated television show named “Startup Champions” to be telecasted on the public service broadcaster Doordarshan (DD).
In his address to the BIMSTEC countries at the Startup India’s International Summit Prarambh, 2021 on Saturday, PM Modi said that the government is taking important steps to ensure that India’s startups don’t face a shortage of capital. “In order to provide initial capital to startups, the country is launching a Startup India seed fund worth Rs 1,000 crore.
This will help to start and grow new startups. Through the Fund of Funds, startups are already receiving assistance to raise equity capital. Going forward, the government will also help startups to raise debt capital by providing the guarantee,” Modi said.
We are trying to build a startup ecosystem which functions on the “of the youth, by the youth, for the youth” mantra,” Modi added. During the address, he also said the target for India’s startups over the next 5 years should be to become global giants in their respective service areas.
On the other hand, the TV show Startup Champions will be a 12-week one-hour programme to showcase “innovations of the young and brilliant innovators and entrepreneurs of India,” according to Startup India. The programme will be telecasted at 6 PM Sunday on DD and 9 PM and 10 PM on Saturday on DD News and DD India respectively.
“Our startups should lead in area of futuristic technology. If this resolve is the collective resolve of BIMSTEC countries, then a very large population will benefit from it.”
“Our startups should lead in futuristic technologies. If all BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) countries push for this, a large population would benefit from this,” the Prime Minister added. During the event, Modi also interacted with the founders of startups from BIMSTEC nations, which include Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
“In the 2018 Bimstec summit, I had said that all these countries will come together in the field of technology and innovation. All Bimstec are working to improve their connectivity and business,” Modi said.
PM Modi said despite the pandemic, 11 startups turned unicorns in 2020, and over 30 startups in India today are valued at over $1 billion. He also mentioned that the present young generation has an immense entrepreneurial streak, and instead of being job seekers, they should aim to be job creators.
