Piyush Goyal announces a dedicated helpdesk for all startup-related issues

We've often heard established entrepreneurs and business leaders talk about how there's never been a better time to start up. We believe they're right -- going by the sheer number and frequency of initiatives to support early-stage startups and enable the success of these homegrown ventures.

Just a few days ago Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a Rs 1,000 crore 'Startup India Seed Fund' on the fifth anniversary of the Startup India initiative.

Now, Commerce and Industry Minister is calling upon Indian businesspersons and successful entrepreneurs to do their bit to support young Indian startups so, and we quote, "our startups don't sell ourselves short to international investors and get the real value" they deserve.

The Minister was speaking at the Resurgence TiE Delhi-NCR event, where he also promised to ensure that his Ministry and Invest India works on a dedicated startup helpdesk to help startups with any difficulties they face.

The Interview 

Taranjeet Singh Bhamra, Founder of agritech startup AgNext, talks about what the agriculture sector expects from Budget 2021. He says it should be “inclusive of an integrated approach to farming”, which means creating an infrastructure that uses technology to allow economies to scale between farmer and consumer. 

According to Taranjeet, for a tech revolution in agritech, the right infrastructure needs to exist, which includes warehousing, storage, cold chain, transportation, and market access, among others across India. 

Here are some key takeaways from the interview:

• Bolstering infrastructure, cutting out middlemen
• The success of farm laws depend on infrastructure
• Agriculture industry’s use of tech is not the same as an ecommerce business

Startup Spotlight

Jiyyo Mitra e-Clinic is improving healthcare access for rural and semi-urban areas

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in exponential growth for the healthcare industry, especially for telehealth and telemedicine companies. Riding this wave of demand is Chandigarh-based Jiyyo Mitra e-Clinic, a startup that enables patients in remote areas to consult and connect with specialist doctors from across India. Read more.

Editor’s Pick: Product Roadmap

The go-to platform for Indian matchmaking

Matrimony.com’s journey began in 1997 in the US when Murugavel Janakiraman started a matrimony website for the Tamil community called sysindia.com, which later became TamilMatrimony. Over the last two decades, the BSE-listed matchmaking giant has evolved, thanks to the constant customer feedback. 

In 2008, BharatMatrimony.com, a subsidiary of Matrimony.com, launched community-based matrimony sites for over 300 communities, speaking multiple languages, and many other services for various users. Read more. 

News & Updates

• Flipkart Group CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy believes COVID-19 has brought about a positive permanent shift for the Indian ecommerce industry. At Resurgence TiEcon Delhi-NCR, he said, “We believe, Indian ecommerce economy has seen a permanent shift for the positive.”

• OnePlus Co-founder Carl Pei launches a new venture — NOTHING. Little is known about NOTHING yet, except that it is a London-based consumer-tech startup that will roll out its first set of smart devices in the first half of 2021.

• Fintech unicorn Pine Labs launched its new product — AllTap — an app to address the needs of those SMB consumers who are not ready to invest in a traditional PoS terminal to accept digital payments.

• Chinese social media firm ByteDance, which owns TikTok, has announced the closure of its India business, following continued restrictions on its services in the country. In a joint email to employees, ByteDance’s executives said the company is reducing team size in India.

• Ahead of Budget 2021, CRY and CBGA held a national webinar to discuss the challenges in improving the nutrition and health of children and women during and beyond the pandemic. 

Before you go, stay inspired with… 

If you keep increasing your skill, your salary will keep increasing, and you will be given extra responsibilities. If, on the other hand, you chase money, skills will not come. Focus on insanely improving skills, and money will chase you.

— Kunal Shah, Founder, CRED

Now get the Daily Capsule in your inbox. Subscribe to our newsletter today!