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India aims for top 10 status with 10K startups in a decade

Aiming to transform India into one of the world's 10 most innovative countries, the top brass and the grassroots have joined forces to establish an end-to-end supply chain that will nurture 10,000 startups over the next decade.
Written by Mahesh Sharma, Correspondent

Indian corporates, multinationals, and the IT industry's peak body have joined forces with angel investors, accelerators, and consultants to establish an end-to-end supply chain that will produce 15 billion-dollar companies over the next decade.

start-ups
India is aiming to grow 10,000 startups in a decade.

The list of companies involved is impressive: Google, Microsoft, Nasscom, Zinnov consulting, Chennai Angels, Harvard Angels, Hyderabad Angels, Mumbai Angels, Silicon Valley bank, accelerators 91Springboards, IAN Incubator, Microsoft Accelerator, The Hatch, The Morpheus, and Venture Nursery, just to name a few.

In a statement released today, Indian Angel Network (IAN) founder Saurabh Srivastava, said this would ensure that funding and support takes its rightful place in the production line of technology companies that will generate the next wave of economic growth.

"IAN is very excited about the 10,000 Startups initiative and hopes to bring all angel investors together to provide the most key ingredient to make this program a success--seed capital and mentoring to convert ideas into enterprises from people who have 'been there, done that,'" Srivastava said.

The various groups will align in three pillars to support the country's startup activity. They will convince IT professionals that entrepreneurship is a viable career choice; build the community via 7,000 networking events, educational talks, and hackathons in 30 cities; and support 10,000 companies with a US$25,000 package of sponsors' products and services.

The goal is to facilitate 10-fold growth in funded startups annually, a five-fold increase in startup jobs, create 15 billion-dollar firms, and catapult India into one of the world's top 10 most innovative countries.

Nasscom president Som Mittal said the project was a key part of its strategy to triple the value of the US$100 billion IT industry by 2020.

However, the organisation recently snubbed SMBs and startups when it elected the new executive council members to lead its future growth. Nasscom has so far ignored repeated questions about the results.

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