January 16th, 2016

New Delhi, January 16th, 2016: Following the Prime Minister’s declaration of ‘Start up India, Stand up India’, NASSCOM 10, 000 Start-up Program is co-opting with Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Government of India, along with other partners to host ‘Startup India’ event on January 16, 2016. The event will be addressed by Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sh. Amitabh Kant, Secretary, DIPP, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, MoS, Commerce and Industry, and Sh. Arun Jaitley, Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs. The event will also see participation from some of the most influential start-up CEOs from across the world.

According to a NASSCOM report titled ‘Start-up India-Momentous- Rise of the Indian Start-up Ecosystem’, India has emerged as the youngest start-up nation in the world with over 72% of founders being less than 35 years old. The country has a presence of more than 4,200 startups, making it the 3rd largest start up base worldwide. NASSCOM has also partnered with various State Governments to launch the Start-up warehouses across major and emerging cities.

In order to foster innovation and support entrepreneurship, NASSCOM has been closely partnering the Government in various entrepreneurship led initiatives. In line with the Prime Minister’s vision of making India the hub for cyber-security related research, training and products, NASSCOM earlier last year created the Cyber Security Task Force. Further, in partnership with TiE Silicon Valley, and IIM Ahmedabad’s CIIE India, NASSCOM also hosted the first India- U.S. Startup Konnect in the Silicon Valley in September 2015. And now, going in line with their vision, NASSCOM is yet again supporting Government’s largest startup programme for the country. The aim of the initiative is to make India the largest start-up hub in the world which will further help drive the country’s economy towards better results.

On the occasion of Startup India event, Mr. R. Chandrashekhar, President, NASSCOM said, “The Indian start up ecosystem is only going to get bigger and better with the Start-up India, Stand up India mission. We are happy to partner with the Government of India to nurture this ecosystem and thereby support their endeavour to make India the largest startup ecosystem in the world. This is something for which every entrepreneur was waiting and finally when the mission is all set to start, we hope that it’s definitely going to make way for better opportunities and prospects”.

Mr. Rajat Tandon, Vice President, NASSCOM 10,000 Startups said, “India is the youngest start-up nation in the world. This start-up wave has really caught the eyes of people around the world with a passionate drive to build something new. New policies, in favour of both entrepreneurs and investors will open up newer opportunities which will further help in building some really strong, innovative products. We are proud to be the key outreach partners in this mission with the Government of India”.

NASSCOM further wants India to bring more policy reforms for the growth of the start-up sector. It has sought easing of rules and regulation for funding. It wants simplification in compliance procedures by minimising licences, permits, approvals, tax for startups.

The day-long event will also see presence of more than 2,000 leaders from the world of start-ups including Mr. Deepinder Goyal, Founder, Zomato, Mr. Pranay Chulet CEO & Co-founder, Quikr, Mr. Masayoshi Son, Founder & CEO, Softbank, Mr. Travis Kalanick Founder, Uber, among others. Industry leaders, speakers and well known business personnel will be a part of 14 different panel discussions and sessions highlighting the major issues, causes, factors affecting the Indian Start-up landscape. NASSCOM has also worked closely with the partners to introduce a virtual exhibition, wherein 60 seconder videos of innovative startups who have created an impact are scheduled to be played.

About NASSCOM 10,000 Startups

10,000 Startups is an ambitious attempt by NASSCOM to scale up the start-up ecosystem in India by 10x. 10,000 Startups aims to enable incubation, funding and support for 10,000 technology startups in India over the next ten years. The program’s vision is to foster entrepreneurship, build entrepreneurial capabilities at scale and strengthen early stage support for tech start-ups. The initiative brings together key stakeholders of the ecosystem including start-up incubators, accelerators, angel investors, venture capitalists, start-up support groups, mentors, and technology corporations. Since its launch in April 2013, we’ve done about 600 events in 25 cities of the country which were attended by a whopping 30,000 attendees and received 11,500 Applicants, 1100 Startups Shortlists, and 150 Impacts. The program is supported by Google for Entrepreneurs, Microsoft Ventures, Amazon Web Services and IBM.