India presently has more than 61,000 start-ups and 81 Unicorns: CEO Niti Aayog

New Delhi: India at present has more than 61,000 start-ups and 81 Unicorns, one of the highest  in the world. During covid 44 Unicorns, the privately owned start-up companies valued at over US $ One Billion were added and 11 in first three months of the current year 2022.

"Indian start-ups are disrupting  the world especially in new emerging areas of health, nutrition and agriculture. 

Women owned businesses and  enterprises are playing a very prominent role in society and will soon be the next big disruption within the Indian start-up ecosystem with the Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) the digital platform being the biggest enabler" said Mr Amitabh Kant, CEO ,NITI Aayog while speaking at ‘FLO start-up Symposium’ organised by FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO) , the women business wing of FICCI here today.

“Women based entrepreneurship is one of the vehicles for realising a more equal society as more women take on entrepreneurship, it serves as a catalyst for socio-economic transformation, by enhancing women's agency and status. Some of the most popular and path-breaking names in the payment ecosystem, travel, beauty, clothing and ecommerce verticals have women at their helm.” Said Mr Kant.

“Presently  venture capital (VC) and private equity firms are supporting WOmen start-ups. This  will help to frame strategies and suggest appropriate measures to facilitate healthy growth of startups and will help promote women entrepreneurship. Today, there is a growing movement among investors and VCs to recognise and support women-led startups” Mr Kant said .

“To all the women entrepreneurs including potential entrepreneurs, my advice will be: the world is looking at India very favourably. Today, India is a compelling growth story poised for rapid growth in consumption, urbanisation, digitisation along with rising income levels.” He added.

“We are happy to be associated and working together with Niti Aayog which has been  providing an ecosystem for budding & existing women entrepreneurs across the country.   The vision of the two partners is to make 'Community' a very interactive, rewarding,  so that entrepreneurs can utilise it for fruitful discussions and for sharing knowledge, ultimately benefiting the women entrepreneurs ecosystem in India, “ said Ms Ujjwala Singhania , President FICCI Ladies Organisation while speaking at the symposium .

“The Start Up cell set up by FLO is one of the initiatives with a purpose to encourage and train women towards entrepreneurship and also train to be investors and mentors to these startups. This will lead to the way for more and more women led start-ups to contribute towards the growth story of the nation. And when women start investing in more women, the multiplier effect could do wonders. Niti Aayog is an integral part in the startup success story of India and we would like to work together in furthering the cause” she said .

“’The Women entrepreneurs of today with help of FLO start up initiative are chartering unknown territories fearlessly & are proceeding with great enthusiasm to change the world around them. They are proceeding with great enthusiasm to change the world around them and make a difference with their ideas.” Said Dr Aarti Gupta, National head, FLO start-up initiative.

The start up panelists who spoke on the occasion included Ms Dinika Bhatia, Founder & CEO ,DRB Foods, Ms  Shinjini Kumar, Co-founder , SALT-mysaltapp, Ms Shanti Mohan ,Founder ,Letsventure, Ms Deepshikha Kumar,Founder, Speakin, Nithin Kamath , CEO, Zerodha, Vinayak Burman, Co-founder, Vertical partners, Kaushik Mukherjee co-founder, Sugar Cosmetics.

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