What’s in the news?

• The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has announced the Startup Accelerator for Product Innovation, Development & Growth (SAMRIDH) programme, which aims to help growing startups in India. 

About SAMRIDH 

• • SAMRIDH will create a conducive platform for Indian software product startups to enhance their products and secure investments for scaling their business. 
  • The SAMRIDH initiative will not only provide funding support to startups, but will also help in bringing skill sets together which will help them become successful.
  • The SAMRIDH programme will focus on accelerating 300 start-ups by providing customer connect, investor connect, and international expansion opportunities in the next three years.
  • Also, an investment of up to Rs 40 lakh to startups, based on their current valuation and growth stage will be provided through selected startup accelerators. 

• Startup accelerators provide early-stage companies that already have a minimum viable product with the education, resources and mentorship needed to promote what might otherwise be several slow years of growth into a few short months.

• The programme aims to further the Indian startup growth which has seen the emergence of 63 unicorns (Startups with over $1 billion valuation), making India the third largest unicorn hub globally with a total valuation of $168 billion.

Reference:

1. https://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/govt-launches-samridh-scheme-to-help-startups-in-the-early-stage-121082501068_1.html