A DEFINING MOMENT

STARTUP20, LAUNCHED DURING INDIA'S G20 PRESIDENCY, APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN A SUCCESS WITH THE RELEASE OF A DOCUMENT THAT CALLS FOR A COHERENT DEFINITION AND HIGHER BUDGET ALLOCATIONS. STAKEHOLDERS HOPE THIS IS THE START OF A FUNDING SUMMER

- BHAVYA KAUSHAL

It’s been a rough few years for start-ups across the world. Funding has plunged after the volatility of the past few years, forcing some firms to fold and others to fire staff, and calls for drastic action to turn the situation around. But when a group of delegates sat together in Hyderabad’s Taj Krishna hotel in January, it was not at all clear that this forum was the answer start-ups were looking for.

And yet, eight months since that first meeting of Startup20, the engagement group India launched during its G20 presidency, a glimmer of hope has crept in. The forum has grappled with the big issues plaguing this segment, including the lack of a standard definition of the term start-up. Its efforts have culminated in a policy communiqué that urges countries to set aside one per cent of global gross domestic product (GDP) to fund start-ups, among other things. This communiqué will be presented at the Leaders’ Summit in New Delhi in September.

The foundation of this success, says Chintan Vaishnav, Mission Director at Atal Innovation Mission (AIM)—an Indian government-led organisation that promotes entrepreneurship and innovation—was built at that first meeting. “Most of the [foreign] delegates who were not actively in touch with India went away surprised,” Vaishnav tells Business Today.