STPI, ESC choose 40 Indian startups for “Building The Next Unicorn” initiative

Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of Railways, Communications, Electronics and IT, Government of India inaugurated the National Conclave of "Building The Next Unicorn", a joint start-up initiative of Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) and Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC) here. Under this program, 40 startups were selected for “Mission to USA”, where they will be provided with an opportunity to visit the USA, coinciding with a leading Tech Event, for exposure to the world’s largest market for tech-based products and services.

The selected startups will also get an opportunity to interact with investors and venture capitalists in and around San Francisco, USA. The ESC-STPI initiative aims to not only support Indian tech startups but also enable them to compete on the global stage with the crème de la crème of international startup firms.

Speaking on the occasion Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of Railways, Communications, Electronics and IT, Government of India, inspired the attendees of the event with his visionary thought leadership and said, “With various government initiatives and support, the start-up culture in India is witnessing a paradigm shift. The Indian start-up ecosystem has now become a technology consumer to a technology producer. Change in momentum has been witnessed in various sectors in our country. There is a manufacturing growth across sectors and job creation in the digital economy is seeing an upward trend.”

He also highlighted that “55 lakh direct jobs have been created in the IT/ITES sector, 30 lakh in electronics manufacturing & 8 lakh in start-ups. By 2024, the government is planning to provide 1 crore job opportunities.”

STPI Director General, Arvind Kumar, said, “The agility with which the government and STPI are working to break the silos and create an institutional mechanism to support startups pan India through its CoEs and NGIS schemes is commendable. The next great story will be written in these non-metropolitan cities, and it is our solemn duty to provide promising entrepreneurs with the tools and skill sets to excel and achieve their greatest potential. STPI is transforming the start-up ecosystem in the country with its 63 centres, out of which, 55 centres are in tier 2 & tier 3 cities for nurturing ideas and providing technical support.”

The event also witnessed the launch of a special report “Start-Up Ecosystem Beyond Tier 1 cities”. The report is a part of the STPI Knowledge-Up Series and will be an apparatus for transforming India into a new hub for innovation and entrepreneurship.

Sandeep Narula, Chairman, Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council, said, “We aim to identify and empower promising start-ups from the tech space in India and connect them to the best industries so that they can reach global markets. Our journey started with support from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. This helped us build a three-tier model comprising State conclaves, National conclaves and internationals conclaves. We endeavoured to go beyond metropolitan cities and cover the length and breadth of the country to identify 700 start-ups. After due diligence, 300 start-ups were selected for the State conclave, while 115 start-ups would be selected for National conclave and 40 start-ups will be selected for global markets exposure in the US and further empowered with American investors and technologies.”