While firms across the world struggled for survival, an army of startups came up in India during Covid-19 pandemic: PM

While firms across the world struggled for survival, an army of startups came up in India during Covid-19 pandemic: PM Modi

Prime minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that India’s startups led the nation's drive towards being self-reliant amid the pandemic while major companies were thinking about survival amid the pandemic.

The prime minister said the Indian startups are disruptive because startup companies are able to bring new innovations and think outside the box. (PTI)

The prime minister while inaugurating Prarambh: Startup India International Summit highlighted that even amid the pandemic 11 startup companies from India entered the unicorn club. ‘Unicorn’ is a term used to describe a privately-held startup company with a value of over $1 billion.

The prime minister also launched the Startup India Seed Fund, a ₹1000-crore project to help new startups with initial funding. He said that under the ‘Funds of Funds’ scheme startups are now able to raise equity capital for their companies.

“Despite the hardships brought by the pandemic, 11 startups entered the unicorn club in 2020. Startups have made massive contributions to India’s Atmanirbhar Abhiyan. When major companies were fighting to survive the economic effects of the pandemic, India’s startup ecosystem stepped up and played an important role,” the prime minister said.

The prime minister also said that India’s startup ecosystem is successful because of its ability to create ‘disruption and diversification’. He said, “Our startup ecosystem’s biggest USP is its ability to create disruption and capacity to allow diversification.”

The prime minister said the Indian startups are disruptive because startup companies are able to bring new innovations and think outside the box. He said India’s startup ecosystem has the capacity for diversification as new startups across several sectors are reaching milestones in a short period of time.

“Our startups are guided more by passion than pragmatism,” the prime minister said. The prime minister said that when the country needed PPE kits, sanitizers and had to strengthen its supply chain startup companies stepped up to the challenge.

The prime minister outlined that the nation’s startup ecosystem prioritised local needs. He said that starting from preparing online study material to doorstep delivery of essential items, startups led the way in ensuring local needs were fulfilled during the Covid-19 lockdowns. The prime minister also highlighted that the startup ecosystem has benefited rural India as well as Tier I and Tier II cities. He said that more than 80% of the nations districts and more than 40% of India's Tier II and Tier III cities are now associated with the nation's startup movement.