Initiative to connect Indian startups with us investors – Piyush Goyal
The Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal, has started a SETU initiative to connect Indian businesses with US-based investors (Supporting Entrepreneurs in Transformation and Upskilling). The Union Minister introduced the SETU programme (Supporting Entrepreneurs in Transformation and Upskilling) on Wednesday (7th September). The goal of SETU is to eliminate geographic obstacles between US mentors willing to support entrepreneurship and India’s early-stage firms.
Goyal introduced SETU while attending a conference with venture capitalists in the San Francisco Bay Area, saying the programme will offer mentorship and advice to Indian startup leaders in several areas, including fundraising, market access, and commercialization.
The initiative was introduced at a discussion centred on particular concerns with the Indian startup ecosystem.
The meeting’s main topics were measures to promote domestic incorporation and mentoring of young Indian entrepreneurs in the San Francisco Bay Area by successful diaspora members.
The programme is expected to provide mentorship and support in various areas, including funding, market access, and commercialization, by connecting businesses in India to investors and startup ecosystem experts headquartered in the US.
More than half of well-funded businesses and around 90% of startups are estimated to fail within their initial stages.
The founders need the appropriate direction for making decisions and moral support because they lack experience managing the business.
The Startup India initiative’s MAARG (Mentoring, Advisory, Assistance, Resilience and Growth) programme, which serves as a one-stop shop for Indian businesses, will use the mentorship site to promote communication between the stakeholders.” There were suggestions about mentorship. We have launched the SETU programme to support entrepreneurs through transformation and upskilling initiatives. We are also looking at a programme that the startup advisory council had initiated in India in which mentorship is being started particularly in tier-II, III, and IV areas,” Goyal said.
In short, SETU will eliminate distance obstacles between the US and India, enabling US-based mentors to support and fund Indian entrepreneurs. The Center has already launched an effort named MAARG to facilitate this (Mentorship, Advisory, Assistance, Resilience, and Growth).
Initially, MAARG assisted in pairing mentors with domestic entrepreneurs. More than 200 mentors have joined the mentoring platform thus far. Additionally, according to the release, the Centre is inviting seasoned professionals and business people worldwide to join the MAARG platform.
“One of the key takeaways is that the Bay Area is very bullish on India, very excited about the potential that India, Indian startups and Indian businesses have to offer. They (investors and mentors) see huge potential in the large market that India is a home of 1.3 Bn aspirational Indians,” the Union Minister added.
According to estimates, more than half of well-funded businesses and around 90% of startups in India experience early failure. Additionally, new business owners require the appropriate direction and moral support.
The importance of receiving the proper advice at the appropriate time cannot be overstated as India strives to become the premier startup destination. The Indian government extends an invitation to established professionals, seasoned professionals, and business leaders to contribute to the country by enhancing the development of startups. The Center has introduced several programmes and efforts to assist startup founders with appropriate guidance, support, and funding. The initiatives aimed at fostering startups are Startup India, SAMRIDH, the Multiplier Grants Scheme, the NewGen IEDC, and the Dairy Entrepreneurship Development Scheme (DEDS).
Additionally, state governments have launched programmes to support their local startup ecosystems. Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, and Tamil Nadu are a few states that have policies in place to support domestic businesses.
