Startup ecosystem is strong, resilient: Official

Indian startups have not faced any funding-related issues and the country’s startup ecosystem is strong and resilient amid the collapse of the California-based Silicon Valley Bank, an official said on Tuesday.

Manmeet Nanda, joint secretary in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), said that she doesn’t foresee any issue in Indian startups’ financial requirements. “I don’t foresee any kind of an issue for our startups, and in terms of their financial requirements,” Nanda told reporters here. Her statement assumes significance as some Indian startups and venture capital funds having exposure to the US were concerned about their funds parked with the Silicon Valley Bank.

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“We have not seen a plunge (in funding) that way…it’s a system readjustment. We have not received any information on a problem there,” Nanda said. “There is no need for any kind of worry. Our fundamentals are strong,” she assured. Nanda also said that there has been a 40 per cent growth in the number of DPIIT registered startups to 95,000. The leading startup sectors are healthcare, life sciences, education, agriculture, and professional and commercial services. The startup India seed fund has already approved Rs 590 crore for selective incubators. The incubators selected for these seed funds are about 155.

“Most of these startups and incubators are selected for funding belong to tier two and tier three cities,” Nanda added. On ranking states and UTs in the startups’ ecosystem, she said: “We were only judging what the states did, but now activities of private players, academic institutions, venture capitalists and private companies will be assessed on how they’re promoting entrepreneurship”. Of the Rs 10,000 crore Fund of Funds scheme, Rs 8,294 crore have been approved for 103 Alternate Investment Funds. 18 financial institutions have onboarded the government’s Credit Guarantee Scheme as of April 6 and loan sanctioning has begun for 4-5 startups, she said.