Page 21 - Digital Indial

STARTUP ECOSYSTEM 221

give office space to startups. For country. quantum of funding support provi-
instance, Huddle, set up in Guru- Though launched in 2016, Star- sioned is little.
gram by industry veterans of IT and tup India is a dynamic initiative and This restricts at times the impact
allied domains. government keeps on amending of the programme and some start-
Many organisations have Startups are the provisions to benefit startups as ups feel they get inadequately fund-
launched their intrapreneur pro- beyond doubt, much as possible. With early star- ed. At the same time, despite of all
grammes and are encouraging important tups coming into existence some- ease being brought to the opera-
in not just
staff to go on sabbaticals to try the present time in 2016 and 2017, there should tionalisation of the programme, it
out their ideas of innovation. Many development be some successful exists that does encounter with the traditional
times, they are supported by fund- but also play shall start happening early 2019 out bureaucracy, which slows the proc-
ing and other requisite infrastruc- a critical role of these incubation and accelera- ess and often leads the entrepre-
ture as well. in propelling tion centres across the country. neur to lose interest and focus.
There are over 400 incubation future growth There is also a dearth of qual-
centres set up across the country. IMPEDIMENTS ity mentors to be available to coach
Over 200 of these are set up in vari- In India, any initiative that has a startups, especially in smaller
ous academic institutions like col- mass appeal is always short of towns and cities where businesses
leges and universities with digital funds. This is because of the sheer might not be in the scale of what
technologies being as one of the magnitude and impact of the pro- they are present in the major cities.
focus areas. There are only a few gramme. Startup India, the um-
among these, which have technol- brella initiative to promote startups FUTURE OUTLOOK
ogy focus but may not be necessar- in the country is a programme that Startups are the future of India.
ily digital technologies. directly appeals to the youth of the Whether it is for solving the macr-
Digital India and Startup India country. 65% of the population of oeconomic challenges of employ-
are complimenting each other. India is below 35 years of age. ment and trade balance, or very im-
Through Startup India, the ideas in Though age and entrepreneur- portant goals with respect to Digital
the digital space are getting nur- ship should have no analogy and India like of technology to make so-
tured and developed into organisa- a person can startup any time. In lutions apt for the Indian conditions
tions, which builds tangible com- many cases, it is people after serv- or making them affordable for dig-
petencies of India in the sector. At ing industry for 10-20 years that ital solutions to penetrate deep into
the same time, the advancements they venture on their own. The point the country; startups are pivotal in
and skills in the digital domain lead to make here is that there is a huge all the roles.
to new and disruptive ideas that are demand for a programme like Star- There is a need to drive focused
channelised through startups in the tup India in the country and any initiatives within Digital India to rea-