Union Minister Piyush Goyal felicitates National Startup Awards 2022 winners

On the occasion of the National Start-up Day (16th January 2023), Piyush Goyal, Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution & Textiles felicitated the winners of the National Startup Awards(NSA) 2022 during the award ceremony held in New Delhi, Delhi.

• National Startup Awards 2022, focused on diversity, inclusion, and innovation, is the 3rd edition of the award which recognises outstanding startups that have demonstrated exceptional capabilities in terms of financial gains and measurable impact on society.
• He also released the National Startup Awards 2022 Report and launched the MAARG platform (Mentorship, Advisory, Assistance, Resilience, and Growth) during the award ceremony.

NSA 2022: 

i.The National Startup Awards 2022 in line with Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsa, has recognised and rewarded outstanding startups and enablers that have demonstrated exceptional capabilities, not just in terms of financial gains but also creating a measurable impact in society.

ii.The National Startup Awards 2022 Identifies and celebrates innovations across 17 sectors, 50 sub-sectors and 7 special categories.

• The sectors included Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Construction, Drinking Water, Education & Skill Development, Energy, Enterprise Technology, Environment, Fintech, Food Processing, Health & Wellness, Media and entertainment, Industry 4.0, Security, Space, Transport and Travel.

Winners of NSA 2022: 

The NSA 2022 recognised 46 winners (41 startups, 2 incubators, and 1 accelerator) in their respective categories.

• Natura Crop Care has won NSA 2022 under 2 sectors, Rural Impact Startup and Agriculture while, Algorithmic Biologics Private Limited have won awards under Health & Wellness sector and Special Category – Women-Led Startup. Click here for the complete list of NSA 2022 winners

Prize: 

The winning startups were awarded Rs. 5 lahks each, and the winning incubator and accelerator were awarded Rs. 15 lahks respectively.

Key Points:

Compared to the previous editions of NSA, the sectors and sub-sectors under the NSA 2022  have been increased to 17 and 50 respectively, increasing the coverage of the startup ecosystem.

• 2 sectors, 5 sub-sectors, and 2 special categories have also been added to NSA 2022.

About National Startup Awards: 

i.National Startup Awards was initiated by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry(MoCI).

ii.The National Startup Awards (‘NSA’) was first presented in October 2020 and recognised 36 startups, 1 incubator, and 1 accelerator as winners.

NSA 2020 and 2021 recognised 367 startups as winners and finalists.

MAARG platform:

Union Minister Piyush Goyal also launched the MAARG Platform during the event.

i.The platform will facilitate mentorship between startups and entrepreneurs across sectors, stages, and functions.

• The matchmaking phase of the portal, launched during the event, will allow the startups to connect with mentors and help them to access the guidance that will help them grow and increase their impact in India and globally.

ii.At present more than 600 mentors and over 800 startups have been registered on the platform.

National Start-up Day 2023 – January 16: 

National Startup Day is annually observed across India on 16th January to celebrate the spirit of the Indian startup ecosystem. The day also marks the founding day of Startup India. The observance of the National Startup Day is organised by DPIIT, under MoCI.

• 2023 marks the observance of the 2nd National Start-up Day.
• National Start-up Day 2023 marks the completion of 7 years of Start-up India.

As a part of the National startup Day 2023, a 7-day long Startup India Innovation Week – January 10 – 16, 2023, was organised across India with several events to reach stakeholders and enable the Indian startup ecosystem.

Background:

On 15th January 2022, Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, declared the 15th January, the founding day of Startup India, of every year as the National Start-up Day.

• The Startup India Initiative was launched on January 16, 2016.

The first-ever National Startup Day was observed on 16th January 2022.

Workshop on Alternative Investment Funds

i.DPIIT organised a workshop on Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) and their Central role, chaired by Anurag Jain, Secretary, DPIIT at Vanijya Bhawan, New Delhi, Delhi.

ii.The workshop focused on sensitising the representatives of the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), to mobilize domestic capital into the startup ecosystem through AIFs.

Note: 

DPIIT works with the Ministry of Finance (MoF), IRDAI, and the Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoL&E) to allow AIFs to invest in startups.

ASCEND SAMAGAM:

On 10th January 2023, DPIIT organized the ASCEND (Accelerating Startup Calibre & Entrepreneurial Drive) SAMAGAM with an aim to capacitate and augment knowledge on key aspects of entrepreneurship and continue efforts towards creating a robust startup ecosystem in the Northeast.

• ASCEND Samagam was conducted as a follow-up to the ASCEND workshop organised for the entrepreneurs, aspiring entrepreneurs, students, and ecosystem enablers in all 8 States of Northeast India during November and December 2022.

Startup India: 

Startup India is a flagship initiative of the Indian Government, which aims to catalyse startup culture and build a strong and inclusive ecosystem for innovation and entrepreneurship in India.

• Under the Startup India Initiatives, companies can be recognised as Startups by DPIIT, in order to access a host of tax benefits, easier compliance, IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) fast-tracking and other benefits.
• Through this initiative, DPIIT has executed various projects & undertaken recurring models to propel the Indian Startup Ecosystem.
• The programs under this initiative are managed by a dedicated Startup India Team that reports to DPIIT.

Initiatives under Startup India: 

Startup India Action Plan, the Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS) Scheme, Regulatory Reforms, Support for Intellectual Property Protection, Self-Certification under Labour and Environmental Laws, Income Tax Exemption for 3 Years, Faster Exit for Startups, the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS) etc.

Startups in India: 

i.India is the 3rd largest ecosystem in the world, after the United States of America(USA) and China, with 108 Unicorns.

ii.The number of startups in India has increased from 471 in 2016 to 84,012 in 2022.

iii.Out of the total recognized startups, around 12% cater to IT services, 9% to healthcare and life sciences, 7% to education, 5% to professional and commercial services and 5% to agriculture.

iv.DPIIT has recognised More than 4500 startups in sectors related to emerging technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT), robotics, Artificial Intelligence(AI), and analytics.

Around 49% of the startups are from Tier II & Tier III cities.

About Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI):

Union Minister– Piyush Goyal (Rajya Sabha- Maharashtra)
Minister of State– Som Prakash(Constituency- Hoshiarpur, Punjab); Anupriya Singh Patel(Constituency- Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh)