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The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) Chairman and Managing Director, Sivasubramanian Ramann, launched an artificial intelligence (AI)-based information portal called ‘The Indian Startup Ecosystem and Investor Platform‘.
He unveiled it at the inaugural session of the International Confluence Conference on Startups and Innovation, which was hosted by the Centre for Research on Startups and Risk Financing (CREST), under the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-Madras).
In collaboration with a startup incubated at IIT-Madras, the platform provides extensive data on approximately 196,000 startups, 10,800 angel investors, 4,800 venture capitalists, and 965 incubators. It also features information about 102 government schemes for startups and 560 institutions providing loan funding. According to a press statement, it is the most comprehensive platform available for both startups and investors.
In fact, for the Indian context, this information platform stands as the sole resource capturing the entire range of funding options accessible to early-stage startups. Beyond providing information, the platform also incorporates AI-driven tools like startup valuation and investor connection tools, offering valuable support to entrepreneurs. It showcases profiles of startup companies for investors to explore and identify their areas of interest.
Considerable financial support is offered by the government through various funds, including state government funds that remain relatively unfamiliar to many. It is important to raise awareness across all areas of the country, which the platform aims to do.
Palanivel Thiaga Rajan, the Minister of Information Technology and Digital Services of Tamil Nadu, said, “The notion of an advanced economy is that it should also have a very efficient capital market. If I take the U.S. as an example, there was every kind of risk-return profile in the investment community, and therefore, available to entrepreneurs, businesses, government, and real estate developers. Capital was available to finance risk at varying levels. In the start-up space, there were hundreds of billions of dollars available at the angel investing level and in other stages to finance start-ups at different stages of their journey.”
He said that Tamil Nadu has a commendable track record, attributed in part to the century-long commitment to education and the cultivation of human talent and capital capable of harnessing the opportunities presented by new, disruptive technologies, global market expansions, and industry-transforming changes.
He noted that the state government, in particular, upholds its philosophy of ensuring equitable access and social justice, even within the startup and innovation ecosystem. Targeted funds have been allocated for entrepreneurs from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and women, aligning to extend equal educational opportunities to all segments of the community through inclusive training programmes.
The Indian startup ecosystem, having fostered the emergence of 6 decacorns and over 100 unicorns, maintains its position as the third-largest tech startup ecosystem globally, following the U.S. and China. The country can become a superpower by 2047, if there are more employers than employees, the Director of IIT-Madras, V. Kamakoti claimed.
He spoke about the crucial role of higher education institutions in realising this vision, asserting that fostering and supporting startups should be integral to every higher education institution. He highlighted the multifaceted impact of startups, not only in terms of returns and wealth creation but also as key players in solving various societal challenges through innovation. The difference between the start-up ecosystems in India and overseas is the availability of organised data, he explained. This new information portal is a solution to bridge this gap.
