The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Dr Jitendra Singh said that the Ministry of DoNER could possibly create a venture fund for investment in North East for young entrepreneur without much of a liability, said at an ASSOCHAM event held in New Delhi .
“A three-day mega Northeast festival will be held at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi from February 12 to 14. It will aim at showcasing the vast resource and potential of the Northeastern States,” said Dr Singh while inaugurating “Start Up India 2016” organised by The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).
Dr. Singh said, “We believe that India’s economic future lies in encouraging startups which will bring dynamism, new thinking and create jobs to the Indian economy.”
He further said, presently we have 80 million population which is below the age of 35 that’s the huge strength and I think this is the most opportune time for startup to have happen in India.
H.E. Mr Daniel Carmon, Ambassador, Embassy of Israel, Startups can grow almost anywhere. But in order to really cultivate them, an ecosystem has to be in place. The latest initiative announced by PM Modi on Saturday is doing exactly that. It provides the needed conditions to evolve and develop. Israel applauds this initiative and would be happy to share its experience in developing suitable ecosystems, comprehensive mechanisms that will encourage unique and sustainable economic growth in India.
There are many ingredients and factors to this success, but I would like to elaborate on one of them: the “Israeli Way”, the ability to dream. For it takes dreamers to bring an ancient nation back to its historic homeland; For it takes dreamers to believe that an arid land can become a leader in agriculture; for it takes dreamers to dare to dream and to live the dream, said Mr Daniel Carmon.
In Israel there are over 5000 start-ups and still growing. Israel holds the highest number of startups per capita and has a strong viable venture capital industry. It enjoys as the highest rate of Governmental investment in R&D (almost 4% of GDP). It has developed a unique alliance between Society, Government, Industry, Academia, Technology Transfer Companies, Innovators, Inventors, Private Sector, Human Capital and Venture Capital. The startup ecosystem is ready to take risks, to accept failure, to be curious, to argue, to challenge.
Start up and innovation are also closely related to finding out the next “big thing”. Israel is considered to be a leader in two growing fields: IoT – the Internet of Things – and cyber. Two fields with an enormous growth potential mainly because these two interdisciplinary fields will affect almost anything we do in the future, added Mr Daniel Carmon.
In cyber, there are over 300 cyber companies in Israel including a dedicated cyber-park – Cyberspark, located in Beer Sheva, Israel’s Cyber Capital. It is designed to materialize the potential and create a unique cyber ecosystem that includes also amongst others, an increasing number of multinational companies and of course – startups. Israel will also soon open the world’s first aviation cyber innovation center in Tel Aviv University that will highlight innovative technologies and solutions.
Startups are an engine of growth. They have the potential to create jobs for a growing number of people and open the door for new segments of economic activity. Let me mention in this context the growing e-commerce industry in India that has evolved very rapidly, creating giants like Snapdeal, Flipkart and others, making shopping for many of us easier and more accessible, mentioned Mr Daniel Carmon.
Mr Puneet Y. Dalmia, Managing Director, Dalmia Bharat Limited said, “the StartUp India is really an out-of-box idea and its strength lies in taking programme well beyond IT and Apps ….the involvement of the private sector and academia through incubation centres should make a difference”.
According to the joint study undertaken by ASSOCHAM and Grant Thornton on “Startups India-Overview” released today says that 2015 witnessed the maximum traction in the space with over 600 companies getting funding; more than US$ 2 bn being deployed by PE and VC funds.
Over and above the US$ 2bn deals in the startup specie other top deals in the overall tech specie in 2015 include the usual suspects i.e. investment of US$ 700 mn in Flipkart by Sequoia Capital & Steadview Capital, US$ 500 mn in Snapdeal by Alibaba, Softbank & others, US$ 1100 mn in Olacabs by a group of investors including Tiger Global, Softbank, DST Global etc, mentioned the study.
Investment momentum in startups have increased rapidly over the last five years with investment values increasing at a CAGR of more than 57% between 2011 and 2015 while investment volumes have increased at a CAGR of over 62%, noted the study.
The startup ecosystem continue to be concentrated in regions like NCR, Bangalore and Mumbai which together contribute to 87% of total investment value and 84% of total investment volumes, adds the paper.
Others who also spoke during the conference Mr Sujit Kanoria, Managing Director, Shristi Infrastructure, Mr Rajkumar Dhoot (MP), Past President, ASSOCHAM, and Mr D.S. Rawat, Secretary General.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.