December 05, 2024 : India’s startup ecosystem is witnessing a landmark development with the launch of Startup Policy Forum (SPF) – a pioneering alliance dedicated to representing the interests of India’s leading new-age companies. The Forum aims to foster constructive collaboration between founders, policymakers and regulators. SPF will bolster the government’s initiatives to position Indian startups on a global platform and bring together a thriving community of entrepreneurs building high-growth companies.
The Forum is founded by Shweta Rajpal Kohli, a public policy and media veteran with over 25 years of experience in leading teams at prominent venture capital, technology and media firms, including Peak XV Partners, Sequoia Capital India, Salesforce and Uber.
Applauding the initiative, Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry said, “Our startups are driving transformative change by democratizing business and converting job seekers into job creators. We are glad to see many founders joining the Startup Policy Forum (SPF), which should reinforce India’s global leadership in the new-age economy. The forum should play a pivotal role in India’s journey to become Viksit Bharat by 2047 under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.”
Commenting on the launch, Shweta Rajpal Kohli, President and CEO of Startup Policy Forum (SPF), stated: “India has become one of the most attractive global hubs for innovation thanks to the government’s steadfast focus on catalysing the startup ecosystem and the macroeconomic stability provided by our world-class regulators. It’s a privilege to bring together a group of new-age nation-builders keen to engage in constructive collaboration with government and regulators to drive impactful policy change.”
The Forum will limit its members to 100 select startups in its initial phase. Over 30 rapidly growing startups have already signed up as members, highlighting the strong need for such an alliance. These include trailblazing fintech companies like Razorpay, CRED and Pine Labs, invest-tech leader Groww, consumer insurer firm Acko, global travel-tech company OYO, on-demand convenience platform Swiggy, healthtech major Practo, online gaming startups Dream11 and MPL, leading auto-tech platforms CARS24 and CarDekho, cloud kitchen major CureFoods, home and interiors startup Livspace, leading online travel platform Ixigo, human observability platform Ultrahuman, spacetech firm Digantara, AI video platform Invideo, neobanking startup Jupiter, Mobile first credit card platform One Card, payments platform Mobikwik, digital lending provider Yubi, B2B fintech platform Progcap, omnichannel retailer Bluestone among others.
To drive sector-specific initiatives and policy expertise, SPF has established four specialised councils: the Fintech Policy Council (FPC), Consumer and Commerce Council (CACC), Emerging Tech & AI Council (ETAC), and New-Age Public Companies Council (NPCC). These councils will focus on critical areas within the startup ecosystem, collaborating closely with relevant regulators and stakeholders to address unique challenges and opportunities in each sector.
SPF has also assembled a team of India’s foremost experts in public policy, legal affairs, taxation, policy research and communications. The Forum aims to engage in cutting-edge public policy advocacy tailored to the needs of India’s new-age companies.
In the near future, SPF will announce the formation of an advisory board and a mentor board, comprising global thought leaders and ecosystem enablers who will guide the Forum’s initiatives. These boards will play a pivotal role in shaping SPF’s efforts to position and scale Indian startups.
India boasts the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem, home to over 100 unicorns and many rapidly growing startups. The nation approaches nine years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flagship initiative, Startup India, next month. A surge of IPOs by new-age companies reflects the startup ecosystem’s maturity in terms of size, scale and impact. With startups entering a high-growth phase, creating favourable regulatory frameworks is crucial to fostering innovation and achieving global prominence. Several government initiatives, including Startup India, Digital India and the Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) have laid a strong foundation for startups to innovate and flourish.
