IIT Madras launches ‘Startups for All’ initiative
IIT Madras and Centre for Research on Start-ups and Risk Financing (CREST) has launched ‘Startups for All’ initiative to help startup founders, entrepreneurs. This initiative will also benefit other stakeholders in India’s vibrant and rapidly evolving startup ecosystem. Developed in collaboration with YNOS, an IIT Madras-incubated startup, this initiative marks a significant step toward democratizing access to high-quality, actionable data that can drive informed decisions. Dr Palanivel Thiagarajan, minister for Information Technology and Digital Services, Government of Tamil Nadu, launched this initiative during the recently-held ‘TN Global Startup Summit’.
India’s startup ecosystem, the third largest globally, is set to play a critical role in achieving the $5 trillion economy goal. The role of startups in India have reached an inflection point today where startups are not only a matter of interest for founders, investors, enablers and the government but they are becoming touchpoints to each and every member of the society in a variety of ways. As the startup economy enters mainstream, its integration with the society would intensify further.
However, a major problem in the start-up ecosystem has been the information conundrum, an illusion that gives a feeling of widespread information availability, whereas in reality, information that exists is fragmented and scattered which hampers decision-making for many stakeholders. Reducing this information challenge is critical for the economy to realize the full benefits from the startups.
Addressing this key challenge, IIT Madras CREST and YNOS have developed India’s only exclusive independent digital platform on startups. This information platform, has also become India’s largest and most comprehensive database on startups, investors, incubators, and support agencies.
The information platform currently hosts over 275,000 start-ups, 15,000 angel investors, 5,500 venture capital firms, 1,400 incubators, 800 banks, and 110 government support schemes—making it the most comprehensive resource of its kind in India. The platform also includes features that provide investor recommendations for start-ups looking to raise investment, comparative analytics for startup growth and funding, downloadable investor reports, and tools to compose personalised outreach to investors and incubators.
