UNICORN UTOPIA

With G20’s first-of-a-kind Startup20 initiative, India aims to position itself as a global go-to hub for startups

- K. SUNIL THOMAS

It is the S factor. India just sexed up what was originally a multilateral endeavour aimed at geopolitical and trade hobnobbing. Under India’s presidency this year, the Group of Twenty (G20), which consists of 19 major economies and the European Union (plus global financial organisations like the IMF and the World Bank) has been smartly pivoted into a vehicle for promoting the country as a destination for investment and tourism.

The S factor that is unique at the centre of it all is Startup20. A first-of-its-kind venture in the annals of G20, it was started this year during India’s ongoing presidency, as the country insisted that the existing Business 20 (B20) forum for global businesses was not sufficient to deal with the startup ecosystem as it also catered to large corporations and other trade matters as well.

Startup20, instead, would be the focused base for fostering startups. In fact, a policy communique issued at the end of the Startup20 meeting in Goa spoke about “scouting startups globally, funding them collaboratively, mentoring them contextually, and scaling them internationally…. setting the stage for a vibrant and thriving global startup ecosystem”.

By extension, India hopes to reap the dividends that will accrue from projecting the nation as a global hub for startups.

“Within a few years, we were able to become the world’s third largest ecosystem for startups,” said Amitabh Kant, G20 Sherpa and former CEO of NITI Aayog, recently. “Startups can play a crucial role in the development story of a nation, if not the world.”