NEW DELHI: Over the last 5-6 years, the capabilities of young Indians and their startups has become unquestionable among global investors, minister of state for IT Rajeev Chandrashekhar said on Saturday while speaking at the ninth edition of The Economic Times Startup Awards (ETSA) in Bengaluru.
“There is high quality, deep research and work being done by Indian startups, including AI and semiconductors. The pedigree of India’s capabilities have been firmly established,” said the minister.
“We are no longer the back office … We are now in a space where the US and European countries sign agreements with us for top technologies. The world now recognizes that the future of technology will be shaped as much by Indian entrepreneurs, as Americans or anyone else,” said Chandrashekhar.
Need harmony between ministries: Chandrashekhar on online gaming GST
Asked about the government slapping high GST rates on emerging sectors such as crypto and online gaming, Chandrashekhar said: “As you stray into areas that are unregulated, you get bad actors that milk that lack of framework. The government has created a sound framework and rules that will define what is permissible online gaming.”
The minister, however, acknowledged that there needs to be more harmony over how different ministries, “specially the finance ministry”, tackle the unregulated sectors.
He also admitted that there is a view in the finance ministry that “GST should be punitive and should basically discourage online gaming due to the actions of several bad actors”.
“But the government is interested in providing a clear, predictable framework for online gaming sector,” he added.
On regulation
He assured young entrepreneurs that government regulation is not seeking to create roadblocks and difficulties for startups but rather “catalyse and further accelerate innovation”.
“Eventually, there will only be the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, the Digital India Act, and competition law that will effectively deal with distortions on the Internet,” he added.
Traditional firms now looking up to startups: Gajwani
Giving the opening remarks at the Economic Times Startup Awards, Times Internet vice-chairman Satyan Gajwani said: “We have over 1 lakh startups and cumulatively the sector has raised roughly $100bn and we have over 100 unicorns resulting out of this,” said Times Internet vice-chairman Satyan Gajwani.
“Earlier, traditional companies/corporations would look at startups like parents look at children. They acknowledged their valuation but never saw startups as real companies. But now there is a convergence. The young companies have grown up and they have had to demonstrate that they can build lasting companies. And the traditional companies have started to recognise and give respected to the startup ecosystem,” said Times Internet vice-chairman Satyan Gajwani.
“We now see traditional companies seeking to imbibe the spirit of entrepreneurialism, of disruption, of challenging the status quo, of using new technology and reinventing themselves,” he added.
Awards under 8 categories
The Economic Times Startup Awards were instituted in 2015 to celebrate the finest and the bravest who risked everything to launch a new enterprise.
It is a recognition of the sweat and tears that went into shaping what will drive the nation’s economic engines tomorrow. The awards salute the entrepreneurs and also seek to inspire the dreamers and daredevils in all of us.
“Through the Startup Awards, we strive to engage with startups and investors, identify the deserving startups and celebrate the vaulting ambition and skills of some of India’s best-known entrepreneurs and investors who have built and mentored the country’s fastest growing startups. We recognise excellence in eight categories Startup of the Year, Woman Ahead, Top Innovator, Bootstrap Champ, Midas Touch (Best Investor), Social Enterprise, Best on Campus and Comeback Kid,” states the website of the ET startup awards.
This year’s winners
At a virtual meeting that lasted for more than two hours on September 12, a high-powered jury led by Kotak Mahindra Bank founder and director Uday Kotak picked the winners in eight categories from a shortlist of 38 contenders.
OfBusiness, a Gurgaon-based business-to-business (B2B) ecommerce platform, won the top honour as the Startup of the Year while Jishnu Bhatacharjee, managing director of Nexus Venture Partners won the Midas Touch Award for Best Investor.
The award for the Bootstrap Champ went to online gaming company Gameberry Labs for its ability to stand out in the crowded online gaming space without raising any external capital, while the prize for Top Innovator was bagged by biotech startup String Bio.
ZopSmart, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform servicing companies in the retail sector, won the Comeback Kid award while FIA Global, a company helping people in some of the remotest areas of the country avail of formal financial services, won in the Social Enterprise category.
Digantara Technologies, a space situational awareness company – started on a campus – which is developing end-to-end infrastructure to address the difficulties of space operations and space traffic management, was adjudged the Best-on-Campus.
For building a Rs 200-crore company in the pet care and supplies industry, Heads Up for Tails founder Rashi Narang won the Woman Ahead prize.
“There is high quality, deep research and work being done by Indian startups, including AI and semiconductors. The pedigree of India’s capabilities have been firmly established,” said the minister.
“We are no longer the back office … We are now in a space where the US and European countries sign agreements with us for top technologies. The world now recognizes that the future of technology will be shaped as much by Indian entrepreneurs, as Americans or anyone else,” said Chandrashekhar.
Need harmony between ministries: Chandrashekhar on online gaming GST
Asked about the government slapping high GST rates on emerging sectors such as crypto and online gaming, Chandrashekhar said: “As you stray into areas that are unregulated, you get bad actors that milk that lack of framework. The government has created a sound framework and rules that will define what is permissible online gaming.”
The minister, however, acknowledged that there needs to be more harmony over how different ministries, “specially the finance ministry”, tackle the unregulated sectors.
He also admitted that there is a view in the finance ministry that “GST should be punitive and should basically discourage online gaming due to the actions of several bad actors”.
“But the government is interested in providing a clear, predictable framework for online gaming sector,” he added.
On regulation
He assured young entrepreneurs that government regulation is not seeking to create roadblocks and difficulties for startups but rather “catalyse and further accelerate innovation”.
“Eventually, there will only be the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, the Digital India Act, and competition law that will effectively deal with distortions on the Internet,” he added.
Traditional firms now looking up to startups: Gajwani
Giving the opening remarks at the Economic Times Startup Awards, Times Internet vice-chairman Satyan Gajwani said: “We have over 1 lakh startups and cumulatively the sector has raised roughly $100bn and we have over 100 unicorns resulting out of this,” said Times Internet vice-chairman Satyan Gajwani.
“Earlier, traditional companies/corporations would look at startups like parents look at children. They acknowledged their valuation but never saw startups as real companies. But now there is a convergence. The young companies have grown up and they have had to demonstrate that they can build lasting companies. And the traditional companies have started to recognise and give respected to the startup ecosystem,” said Times Internet vice-chairman Satyan Gajwani.
“We now see traditional companies seeking to imbibe the spirit of entrepreneurialism, of disruption, of challenging the status quo, of using new technology and reinventing themselves,” he added.
Awards under 8 categories
The Economic Times Startup Awards were instituted in 2015 to celebrate the finest and the bravest who risked everything to launch a new enterprise.
It is a recognition of the sweat and tears that went into shaping what will drive the nation’s economic engines tomorrow. The awards salute the entrepreneurs and also seek to inspire the dreamers and daredevils in all of us.
“Through the Startup Awards, we strive to engage with startups and investors, identify the deserving startups and celebrate the vaulting ambition and skills of some of India’s best-known entrepreneurs and investors who have built and mentored the country’s fastest growing startups. We recognise excellence in eight categories Startup of the Year, Woman Ahead, Top Innovator, Bootstrap Champ, Midas Touch (Best Investor), Social Enterprise, Best on Campus and Comeback Kid,” states the website of the ET startup awards.
This year’s winners
At a virtual meeting that lasted for more than two hours on September 12, a high-powered jury led by Kotak Mahindra Bank founder and director Uday Kotak picked the winners in eight categories from a shortlist of 38 contenders.
OfBusiness, a Gurgaon-based business-to-business (B2B) ecommerce platform, won the top honour as the Startup of the Year while Jishnu Bhatacharjee, managing director of Nexus Venture Partners won the Midas Touch Award for Best Investor.
The award for the Bootstrap Champ went to online gaming company Gameberry Labs for its ability to stand out in the crowded online gaming space without raising any external capital, while the prize for Top Innovator was bagged by biotech startup String Bio.
ZopSmart, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform servicing companies in the retail sector, won the Comeback Kid award while FIA Global, a company helping people in some of the remotest areas of the country avail of formal financial services, won in the Social Enterprise category.
Digantara Technologies, a space situational awareness company – started on a campus – which is developing end-to-end infrastructure to address the difficulties of space operations and space traffic management, was adjudged the Best-on-Campus.
For building a Rs 200-crore company in the pet care and supplies industry, Heads Up for Tails founder Rashi Narang won the Woman Ahead prize.
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