Ministry of Commerce’s Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) will organise the first-ever ‘Startup India Innovation Week’ from 10th-16th January 2022.
The 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.
The festival aims to provide a platform for the exchange of 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, the ministry added.
With the participation of states, UTs and various departments of the central government, the week-long programme will address key aspects of the startup ecosystem through interactive sessions, workshops, and presentations based on themes such as academia & mentorship support to startups, incubation and acceleration support to startups, market access through corporates & government to startups, and funding & 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.
In the startup world, 2021 has been recognised as the ‘year of unicorns,’ with 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% of the startups are from Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities and 45% of them are represented by women entrepreneurs,” said the ministry in a statement. Startups have the potential to accelerate India’s integration into global value chains and create global impact.
