IT Ministry to Support 10,000 Startups Over the Next Five to Six Years : IT Secretary

On Tuesday, Alkesh Kumar Sharma, the secretary of the Ministry of Electronics and IT (Meity), announced that the government aims to promote more than 10,000 startups in the next 5–6 years under the GENESIS programme.

Kumar added that he hasn't noticed any startups actively seeking funding but rather looking for growth opportunities.

"There is no problem securing the necessary funds. We're about to enter the upcoming level where Genesis will appear. At this point, we intend to initiate our launch. We plan to help launch 10,000 new businesses over the next five to six years." he said about the possibility of a funding winter, which could cause a shortage of capital for startups.

The Digital India GENESIS programme was released in July (Gen-Next Support for Innovative Startups). Costing in at around 750 billion rupees, this programme is no small investment. To better comprehend the challenges faced by startups, Sharma attended a briefing session with their representatives.

The meeting was attended by people from the following companies: 

KidEx, Teralumens, iMumz, Recur Club, AyuRhytm, KrishifyFarmstock, BlueSemi R&D Pvt Ltd, Gurutvaa Systems, and Next Skills 360.

There are currently over 73,000 startups in India, and over 100 of them are "unicorns," or startups valued at over $1 billion.

 "We're helping startups in product development so they can pick up business." Sharma added.  Meity has a programme called Startup Accelerator of MeitY for Product Innovation, Development & Growth (SAMRIDH) that will select 300 startups and give them a total of Rs. 40 lakh in funding.

When asked how many accelerators the ministry is working with on Samridh, Additional Secretary of Meity Bhuvnesh Kumar said 22. The government is investing a total of Rs 100 crore into the scheme in partnership with accelerators that will introduce them to VCs. "The government will match the fund which startups get from venture capitalists," Kumar said.