Jaipur was host to two terrific startup events this week – YourStory’s TechSparks city meetup (more on that later!) and the first ever Startup Rajasthan Festival, with two days of expo, conference and workshops. The government announced a Startup Policy, becoming the fourth state in India to have such a policy (after Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat).
“Entrepreneurship is in the blood of Rajasthan,” said Arun Nanda of the Mahindra group. Rajesh Agarwal, MD, MicroMax, offered a range of lessons from his own startup journey, with included India-specific innovations such as a dual-SIM phone and a low-cost QWERTY phone. “Love what you do and build it further. Quickly learn from your mistakes,” he said.
“India’s biggest strength for entrepreneurs is its wide range of problems to solve,” joked Nagaraja Prakasam, co-founder of IAN Impact. India also has a huge youth dividend, which bodes well for its startup ecosystem. “70% of India’s population is less than 32 years old,” said Gajendra Singh Khimsar, Industries Minister, Rajasthan.
“For entrepreneurs to succeed, they need inspiration, innovation and scale,” said Vasundhara Raje, Chief Minister, Rajasthan. In addition to the high-level pronouncements from government, there was lots of energy at the startup exhibition area outside.
Vasundhara Raje Excited to launch the first ever #Startup Policy with the aim of setting up about 500 startups by 2020 in Rajasthan.
Rajasthan unveils start-up policy
The start-up policy, unveiled by Raje while inaugurating the event, aims to strengthen the start-up eco-system in the state by setting up 50 incubators/accelerators, supporting 500 start-ups, creating 100,000 square feet of incubation, and mobilising Rs 500-crore angel/venture capital funding in the next five years.
Gajendra Singh Khimsar, Industries Minister, Rajasthan; Kunal Upadhyay, CEO, CIIE, IIM Ahmedabad; Rajesh Agarwal, Co-founder & Managing Director, Micromax; and Nagaraj Prakasam, Partner, Acumen Fund also spoke on the occasion.
