The Government of India is looking to promote more than 10,000 startups in the span of three to five years under the Gen-next Support for Innovative Startups (GENESIS) program, Ministry of Electronics and IT (Meity) Secretary Alkesh Kumar Sharma has said.
Speaking during a MeitY Startup Hub (MSH) session, Sharma stated that MeitY is committed to giving businesses, especially growth-stage startups, all the support they need. Sharma lauded Indian companies for their dedication and inventiveness, saying that none of them have ever run out of money and are instead constantly seeking ways to expand.
The MSH is the creation of MeitY, which was established to support creative entrepreneurs and create intellectual rights. The hub hopes to support more than 10,000 entrepreneurs after having helped about 3000 tech startups so far.
The MSH has worked with various organizations, including corporations, global corporations, tech businesses, government organizations, and semi-government agencies, to support startups and expand its beneficiary network. Additionally, it inspired several cohorts to quicken the growth of the firms.
Representatives from eight startups updated Sharma and other attendees during the current MSH session on the type of help they need from the federal government to expand their enterprises. The startups have also spoken about their impacts and asked the ministry for advice.
The GENESIS Program
Digital India GENESIS is short for Gen-next Support for Innovative Startups. It intends to create a National Deep-tech Startup Platform in a bid to discover, support, grow and make successful startups in tier-II and tier-III cities of India. This scheme has a total outlay of INR 750 Crore and was launched in July by the Government of India.
“Funding is not an issue. We are now moving to the level next to where Genesis is coming from. We are going to promote 10,000 startups in the next 5-6 years. We are helping startups in product development from where they can pick up business,” said Alkesh Kumar Sharma while responding to a question about possible funding winter that could lead to a shortage of funds for startups.
India currently has over 73,000 startups, with over 100 of them being unicorns. Meity already has a program called Startup Accelerator of MeitY for Product Innovation, Development, and Growth (SAMRIDH), in which it plans to select 300 startups and provide them with funding of up to INR 40 lakh each.
Bhuvnesh Kumar, Additional Secretary at Meity, stated that the ministry has partnered with 22 accelerators for Samridh. The total scheme investment is INR 100 crore, and the government is collaborating with accelerators who will connect them to venture capitalists.
