Prime Minister to launch Start-up India on 16th January

NEW DELHI: The government of India is launching the “Start-up India,” movement on January 16th, 2016 in New Delhi.The event is aimed at celebrating the entrepreneurship spirit of country’s youth and will be attended by CEOs and founders of top Start-ups (over 1500) from across the country.

The closing session will be addressed by the Honorable Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi who shall formally launch the initiative and unveil the Start-up Action Plan.

Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Arun Jaitley shall inaugurate the event in Vigyan Bhawan at 9.30 am on 16th January 2016. Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Nirmala Sitharaman shall be the Guest of Honour for the event.

The event shall be a non-stop day long global workshop on Start-up Entrepreneurship and shall include panel discussions on topics such as “Unleashing Entrepreneurship and Innovation: What do Indian Startups Need to Grow and Prosper”, “Celebrating Women: Stories of Innovative Women Entrepreneurs”, “How digitization will change India’s future”, “Making Indian Healthcare Leapfrog” and “Financial inclusion is within reach”.

The panel discussion on “Show Me the Money: How do we Capitalize Entrepreneurship?” shall be chaired by Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha.

“A unique Question and Answer (Q&A) session titled “Face-to-face with Policy makers” is also being organized wherein secretaries of key government Ministries and Departments will answer questions on how government will be creating an enabling ecosystem for Start-ups. The objective is to reinforce commitment of the government towards creating an ecosystem that is conducive for growth of Start-ups,” said Ministry of Commerce & Industry.

“The panel shall comprise of Secretaries from Department of Revenue, Department of Human Resources and Development, Department of Corporate Affairs, Department of Financial Services, Department of Economic Affairs, Department of Science and Technology, Department of Biotechnology, Department of Electronics and Information Technology, Department of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Department of Skill Development,” it said.

Additionally, the panel will have representation from Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI).

“The event shall also feature interactive talks with global leaders and venture capitalists such as Mr. Masayoshi Son (Founder and CEO, SoftBank), Travis Kalanick (Founder, Uber) and Adam Nuemann (Founder, WeWork). A delegation of over 40 top CEOs and founders of Start-ups, Venture Capitalists and Angels investors from Silicon Valley will be attending as special guests for the event and will be taking part in interactive Q&A sessions,” according to Ministry of Commerce & Industry.

“Google shall be conducting an innovative session titled “Launchpad Accelerator” which will involve live pitches being made by early stage Start-ups to potential investors. Nikesh Arora, President & Chief Operating Officer, SoftBank shall be interacting with participants on aspects relating to Start-up funding. A virtual exhibition is also being organized as part of the event to showcase some of the unique and innovative work done by Start-ups in the country,” Ministry of Commerce & Industry said in its statement.

As Prime Minister had indicated as part of his last “Mann ki baat” radio programme, a full Action Plan of Start-up India shall be launched as part of the event. The plan shall highlight initiatives and schemes being undertaken by the Government to address various aspects relating to developing a conducive Start-up ecosystem in the country.

Lastly, considering the importance of this event towards promotion of Start-up culture in the country, the event will be telecast live in IITs, IIMs, NITs, IIITs and Central Universities and to youth groups in over 350 districts of India.