Gangtok: The second meeting of the Startup20 Engagement group, newly formed under India’s G20 Presidency commenced today in Gangtok, Sikkim. At the Sikkim Sabha, the taskforce members (comprising of delegates from the G20 nations) of the Startup20 Engagement Group discussed and deliberated upon the first draft of the official policy communiqué. The Sikkim Sabha began with an inauguration session which was graced by over 300 dignitaries, G20 member and invitee countries, international organisations, and national delegates.

Chief Minister of Sikkim, Shri P S Tamang while addressing the inauguration session of the Sikkim Sabha highlighted the importance of India’s G20 presidency. Chief Minister also said that StartUp20 is an opportunity to interact with key stakeholders in one platform to cater the needs of innovation, digitization, dynamic energy and breakthroughs in technology   “the G20 presidency to India once again signifies the confidence and commitment of both the developed and developing countries’’.

Chief Secretary of Sikkim, Shri V B Pathak said Startup20 is platform to support entrepreneurs, innovations, rural industries and to work with the task force to bring a sustainable eco system.

MoS for Commerce and Industry, Shri Som Prakash while shedding light on the impressive growth of the startup community said, “Under the leadership of our hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi ji, India has become the third largest startup ecosystem in the world.”

Post the inauguration session, the taskforce members headed to five cafes on MG Marg along with the Startup20 team to deliberate and discuss their respective draft policy papers on Foundations, Alliances, Finance, Inclusion and Sustainability. Simultaneously, a fire side chat with Dr. Chintan: Sikkim Dialogues was conducted at Chintan Bhawan. The delegates then headed to the fifty Startup Showcase stalls, representing startups from the ecotourism, organic manufacturing, healthcare, education, and technological sector, spread across the MG Marg.

A media briefing conducted by Chair, StartUp20, Dr. Chintan Vaishnav, Joint Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, Shri Ashish Sinha, Senior Advisor, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ms. Rupa Dutta was also organized on the sidelines of the event. 

Post the networking lunch, the delegates headed for the last session of the day, the Startup20X conference, at Chintan Bhawan. The conference began with an interactive session and talk on sustaining Startup20 Engagement Group by Shri Ashish Sinha, Joint Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs. The startup founders from the north-eastern Indian states, Ms. Mandira Chettri, founder, O2 Himalaya, and Shri Aeroshil Nameirakpam, the founder of Nibiaa Devices, partook in the conference and shared their inspiring stories with the audience. The conference also witnessed participation from Ms. Kanta Singh, the Deputy Country Representative of UN Women, India, and Mr. Chris Rachal, Director of Hawaii Department of Commerce.

Startup20 is an official engagement group, established under India's G20 Presidency. It acts as a dialogue forum with the G20 nations startup ecosystem stakeholders and intends to represent the startup ecosystem of the G20 nations to raise the macroeconomic concerns and challenges faced by the startup ecosystem players in these nations. Startup20 will work towards bringing forward key topics for discussion and formulating recommendations against each priority area. Through a consensus-based approach, the group will corroborate and consolidate the final recommendations to the G20 Presidency for discussion at the G20 Summit. Startup20 India will operate through Taskforces that are structured to develop key priorities and bring forward the topics in which recommendations would be formulated to support the startup ecosystems globally.

There are three taskforces under the Startup20 Engagement group. The Foundations and Alliances Taskforce will work to create a startup terminology handbook, set up a global knowledge hub, and create bilateral and Multilateral collaborations with governments, policymakers, academic & research institutes, industry associations and international organizations to promote startups. The Finance Taskforce will broaden the array of financial instruments available to startups, through policy level intervention and create pitching, capacity building and networking opportunities for startups with the global investor community. Finally, the Inclusion and Sustainability Taskforce will work towards promotion of inclusive entrepreneurship, startups working towards inclusion, creating a sustainable planet on the back of startups working towards the SDGs, while also encouraging them to adopt growth-centric sustainable strategies.

Startup20’s inception meeting was held in Hyderabad on 28 and 29 January 2023. The two-day event witnessed enthusiastic participation from delegations across G20 nations, invitee nations and various national and international organisations and startup ecosystem players. The meeting received inputs on the issue note and agenda of Startup20 and the taskforces, which were incorporated in a democratic manner. Startup20X was also launched during the inception meeting.  

Startup20X is a platform conceptualized to host talks, conferences, and events conducted under the aegis of India’s Startup20 Engagement Group. It will bring together leaders from the world of innovation and entrepreneurship and give them a platform to share their experiences and network with ecosystem stakeholders. Startup20X is the antyodaya, rise of the last person in the line, of the startup ecosystem.    

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