The Startup Policy Forum (SPF), an industry-first alliance dedicated to supporting India's new-age economy, aims to bridge the gap between startup founders and policymakers. Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal emphasised that the Forum should help strengthen India’s global leadership in the startup ecosystem and play a key role in the nation’s journey to become Viksit Bharat by 2047.
Commenting on the launch, Shweta Rajpal Kohli, President and CEO of Startup Policy Forum (SPF), stated: "India has become one of the most attractive global hubs for innovation thanks to the government’s steadfast focus on catalysing the startup ecosystem and the macroeconomic stability provided by our world-class regulators. It’s a privilege to bring together a group of new-age nation-builders keen to engage in constructive collaboration with government and regulators to drive impactful policy change.”
The Forum will limit its members to 100 select startups in its initial phase. Over 30 rapidly growing startups have already signed up as members, highlighting the strong need for such an alliance. These include trailblazing fintech companies like Razorpay, CRED and Pine Labs, invest-tech player Groww, consumer insurer firm Acko, global travel-tech company OYO, on-demand convenience platform Swiggy, healthtech major Practo, online gaming startups Dream11 and MPL, leading auto-tech platforms CARS24 and Cardekho, cloud kitchen major CureFoods, home and interiors startup Livspace, leading online travel platform Ixigo, human observability platform Ultrahuman, spacetech firm Digantara, AI video platform Invideo, neobanking startup Jupiter, Mobile first credit card platform One Card, payments platform Mobikwik, digital lending provider Yubi, B2B fintech platform Progcap, omnichannel retailer Bluestone among others.
Goyal remarked, “Our startups are driving transformative change by democratising business and converting job seekers into job creators. We are glad to see many founders joining the Startup Policy Forum.”
In its initial phase, SPF will cap its membership at 100 select startups. To address sector-specific issues, it has established four councils: the Fintech Policy Council, Consumer and Commerce Council, Emerging Tech & AI Council, and New-Age Public Companies Council.
India’s startup ecosystem, which ranks third globally, has over 100 unicorns and is entering a high-growth phase. Initiatives like Startup India and Digital India have laid a strong foundation for innovation, and SPF seeks to further these efforts through targeted policy advocacy.
