Centre To Organise First-Ever Startup India Innovation Week From Today

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) will organise the first-ever Startup India Innovation Week during January 10-16.

DPIIT Secretary Anurag Jain briefing the media through virtual press conference told that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to interact with startups and address Startup India Innovation Week at 10.30 am via video conferencing on January 15 in a closed-door event.

This virtual week-long innovation celebration aims to commemorate the 75th year of India's independence 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav' and is designed to showcase the spread and depth of entrepreneurship across India.

The week-long event will be launched by Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal in presence of Ministers of State (MoS) for Commerce and Industry Som Parkash and Anupriya Patel. Other eminent speakers during the inaugural session will include Dr K Radhakrishnan, Ex-Chairman, ISRO, Prof K VijayRaghavan, Principal Scientific Adviser, Government of India, Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, Nandan Nilekani, Non-Executive Chairman, Infosys and many other Industry leaders.

Over 150 startups have been divided into six working groups based on themes such as Growing from Roots, Nudging the DNA, from Local to Global, Technology of Future, Building Champions in Manufacturing and Sustainable Development.

The aim of the interaction is to understand how startups can contribute to the national needs by driving innovation in the country and how government can assist them with the same. This day will also include the announcement of winners of the National Startup Awards 2021, recognizing outstanding startups and ecosystem enablers that are building scalable enterprises, with high potential of employment generation, wealth creation, and social impact.

Mr Jain said, "2021 has been recognised as the 'Year of unicorns', with over 40 unicorns added in the year. India is emerging as a global innovation hub, boasting the world's third-largest startup ecosystem. DPIIT has recognised more than 61,000 startups as on date. Our startups representing 55 industries, spread across 633 districts with at least one startup from every State and UT of the country have created over 6 lakh jobs since 2016. 45 per cent of the startups are from Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities and 45 per cent of them are represented by women entrepreneurs. Startups have the potential to accelerate India's integration into global value chains and create global impact."

This startup and innovation festival's primary goal is to bring together the country's key startups, entrepreneurs, investors, incubators, funding entities, banks, policymakers, and other national/international stakeholders to celebrate entrepreneurship and promote innovation.

Furthermore, to exchange knowledge on nurturing startup ecosystems, to develop entrepreneurial ecosystem capacities, to mobilise global and domestic capital for startup investments, to encourage and inspire the youth for innovation and entrepreneurship, to provide market access opportunities to startups, and to showcase high-quality, high-technology, and frugal innovations from India.

With the participation of States/UTs and various departments of the Government of India, the week-long programme will address key aspects of the startup ecosystem through interactive sessions, workshops, and presentations based on themes such as Academia and Mentorship Support to Startups, Incubation and Acceleration Support to Startups, Market Access through Corporates and Government to Startups, and Funding and International Avenues to Go Global. In addition, based on the identified themes, there will be various parallel activities such as Experience Booths, Pitching or Reverse Pitching Sessions, and Innovation Showcases.

Participation by Ministry of Education, Niti Aayog, Office of PSA, DBT, DST, MeitY, Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, among other departments, in various sessions.