Govt Launched SETU Initiative To Empower Indian Startups

It is estimated that about 90 per cent of the startups and more than half of the well-funded startups fail in their early days. Lack of experience in handling the business is a key issue and founders require the right guidance for taking a decision. As India heads towards becoming a supreme startup destination, the right guidance at the right time is paramount. The Government of India invites stalwarts, seasoned experts and industry leaders to give back to the nation by adding value to a startup’s journey.

Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Piyush Goyal launched an initiative called SETU in San Fransisco, California. SETU stands for Supporting Entrepreneurs in Transforming and Upskilling. The program aims to connect Indian entrepreneurs and startups to USA investors. 

SETU is designed to break the geographical barriers between mentors based in the US that are willing to invest in sunrise sectors in India. The Interaction between the USA investors and Indian startups will be supported through MAARG that is Mentorship, Advisory, Assistance, Resilience and Growth program. It is a mentorship portal under the startup India initiative. The portal has been developed with the idea to be accessible from every corner of the country to connect with a mentor. Under the initiative will offer human intelligence to guide the startups. More than 200 mentors have been connected to MAARG across the globe.

Prateek Toshniwal, Angel investor and financial advisor said, “As India emerges as a top startup destination, the necessity of receiving the appropriate counsel at the right time has grown significantly. Initiatives like SETU enable startups in India to connect with investors in the US by providing mentorship and support in a variety of areas such as finance, market access, and commercialisation. The mentorship platform for Startup India's MAARG program which functions as a one-stop shop for Indian businesses will provide assistance with the engagement.”

The main functions of MAARG include improving ease of access, scheduling meeting virtually, host master-classes, providing a custom dashboard, host cohort-based programs that will allow startup ecosystem enablers to be become a part of the program and enable outcome-driven activities.

India has emerged as the third largest ecosystem for startups globally with over 77,000 DPIIT recognised startups across 656 districts of the country as of August 2022. As of September 2022, India is home to 107 unicorns with a total valuation of $ 340.79 billion

Ankit Kedia, Founder and Lead Investor, Capital A said, “India is poised to become the hotspot for emerging startups across various sectors including fintech, mobility, clean energy, ecommerce and gaming. In today’s age of 'growth through collaboration', an initiative like SETU will be a massive boost to the startup ecosystem. The US is a fairly evolved market for start-ups and it will help Indian entrepreneurs and startup founders to fuel their growth and adopt the best business practices by learning from them.”

K. Ganesh – Entrepreneur and Investor said, ”In the last decade, the Indian startup ecosystem has matured and progressed significantly. This SETU initiative will help greatly to fill the gap and accelerate the learning curve for Indian startups wanting to enter the US and potentially other global markets. Young entrepreneurs can learn from US professionals and organizations on best practices to scale fast, compete on product features (not just on price) and also foster collaborative partnerships with US companies.”