Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) researchers at Centre for Research on Start-ups and Risk Financing (CREST) have developed an ‘Intelligence Platform on Government Funding Schemes for Start-ups’ to boost the start-up sector.
Developed and implemented in partnership with YNOS, an IIT Madras-incubated start-up, the government funding platform for start-ups brings together the entire spectrum of start-up schemes from the government to the doorsteps of the entrepreneur.
The platform has been developed based on several years of research and data collected by a team led by Prof. Thillai Rajan, Principal Investigator of CREST, and faculty, Department of Management Studies, IIT Madras.
The portal will help entrepreneurs to get a comprehensive understanding of the government funding landscape for start-ups. The product integrates information on the various central government schemes, central public sector companies, and also that of various state governments. There are more than 100 different schemes by different agencies.
Amitabh Kant, India’s G20 Sherpa, launched the platform on 25 October. Speaking on the occasion, he said, “At the click of a mouse, the entrepreneur can get to know about all the government schemes in a single location. Furthermore, the platform also provides detailed analytics such as the start-ups that have benefitted from the scheme, average financial investment received, age of the start-up at the time of getting funded, number of founders in the start-up and the age of founders at the time of getting financial support. ”
Amitabh Kant added, “The information platform on government funding for start-ups contains comprehensive information on more than 100 schemes of various ministries and departments. Close to 10,000 start-ups have benefited from these schemes. Many of the start-ups that receive government support undergo rigorous verification and diligence. Prominently showcasing the start-ups that have received government support, also helps to get the attention of private sector investors such as Angels and VCs, for subsequent funding. Consolidating information of all government schemes helps to communicate the aggregate impact of these schemes in a very powerful manner.”
The platform also gives the contact details and the social media links of the respective schemes. This enables the entrepreneurs to get more information about the scheme if they are interested. The entrepreneur can also download a detailed report on each and every scheme through a simple click.
Speaking about this platform, Prof. A. Thillai Rajan, Principal Investigator of CREST, and faculty, Department of Management Studies, IIT Madras, said, “The motivation for developing this platform was driven by the information challenges faced by entrepreneurs and other stakeholders of the Indian start-up ecosystem. Information was scattered, not easily accessible and did not address the needs of the stakeholders. CREST, an Institute of Eminence Research Centre of IIT Madras, chose to demonstrate its global research leadership by addressing this national challenge. The result was the creation of a global standard intelligence platform on the Indian start-up ecosystem that addressed the information challenges faced by early-stage entrepreneurs.”
The Government of India launched the Start-up India initiative in 2016. This has been a very unique initiative, which has no parallels in independent India. There has been no other major policy intervention that has had such a level of policy convergence and contribution from multiple departments and ministries. Such strong policy support has resulted in India becoming one of the largest start-up ecosystems globally. No other country in the Global South has achieved such a distinction.
