Comm Min asks unicorns to mentor new startups

New Delhi: The Commerce and Industry Ministry has urged the unicorn startups to mentor budding entrepreneurs through government-backed MAARG portal, an official said.

The MAARG (Mentorship, Advisory, Assistance, Resilience, and Growth) platform was launched in January last year to facilitate mentorship for startups across diverse sectors, and geographies.

It was suggested during a meeting between Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and senior representatives of 40 unicorn startups including Lenskart, Zerodha, and Boat here on

January 17.

On the other hand, the companies asked for a better funding mechanism and lower rates of interest to increase their growth prospects.

Issues which figure in the meeting included sustainable growth, India’s positioning in the global startup landscape and mobilisation of domestic capital for the larger startup ecosystem.

It was suggested to them to provide at least 30 minutes of mentorship to budding startups, the official said.

Startup firms valued over $1 billion are categorised as unicorns.