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In a bid to connect Indian startups with the US-based investors, SETU programme (Supporting Entrepreneurs in Transformation and Upskilling) has been launched by the Union Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday (7th September). 

Attending a meeting with venture capitalists in the San Francisco Bay Area, Goyal introduced SETU stating that the initiative will provide mentorship and guidance to Indian startup leaders in several areas such as funding, market access and commercialisation, among others. 

“We have launched SETU where we are looking at supporting entrepreneurs through transformation and upskilling initiatives. We’re also looking at a programme that the startup advisory council launched wherein mentorship is being provided in tier-2, tier-3 and tier-4 towns and remote areas,” Goyal said. 

The interaction (in Bay Area) was centred around issues related to the Indian startup ecosystem. It highlighted ways to stimulate domestic incorporation and mentorship in early-stage startups in the country. 

In essence, SETU will break geographical barriers between India and the US in turn, helping the US-based mentors to guide and infuse money into the Indian startups. To enable this, the Centre has already rolled out an initiative called MAARG (Mentorship, Advisory, Assistance, Resilience, and Growth).

MAARG originally helps connect homegrown startups with mentors. So far, over 200 mentors have boarded the mentorship platform. Besides, the Centre is asking seasoned experts, and industrialists across the globe to come and join the MAARG portal, according to the statement. 

“One of the key takeaways is that the Bay Area is very bullish on India, very excited about the potential that India, Indian startups and Indian businesses have to offer. They (investors and mentors) see huge potential in the large market that India is a home of 1.3 Bn aspirational Indians,” the minister added. 

It is estimated that about 90% of Indian startups and more than half of the well-funded startups fail in their early days. Besides, startup entrepreneurs are also in need of the right guidance and moral support. 

To help startup founders with apt guidance, support and funding, the Centre has brought a few schemes and initiatives. Startup India, SAMRIDH scheme, Multiplier Grants Scheme, NewGen IEDC, Dairy Entrepreneurship Development Scheme (DEDS) are some of the startup-focused programmes led by the central government. 

Besides, the state governments have also introduced programmes to shore up their regional startup ecosystem. Startup policies of Delhi, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, and Tamil Nadu are a few examples of state government’s efforts to bolster homegrown startups.