Punjab has ranked as Leader in State’s Startup Ranking 2021

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India under the Startup India initiative had released its 3rd edition of State’s Startup Ranking on July 4, 2022. According to the report, since the launch of the Startup India initiative in 2016, more than 700 incubators have been established in the country and around 8.6 lac jobs have been created by DPIIT-recognized startups up to November 2022 as per reports of Govt. of India. India is today the 3rd largest startup ecosystem in the world with over 99,000 startups registered up to May, 2023. The State’s Startup Ranking Framework (SRF) evaluates the performance of the States across seven broad reform areas viz. institutional support, fostering innovation & entrepreneurship, access to market, incubation & mentorship support, funding support, capacity building of enablers, and roadmap to sustainable future. Punjab has been recognized as leader among major states (with population over one crore) in State’s Startup Ranking 2021 in developing strong startup ecosystem in the State. Punjab has contributed significantly in providing institutional support & capacity building for enablers. The State has also generated noticeable impact through funding & incubation support. The Government of Punjab has launched several initiatives. These include Startup Punjab, Mission Innovate, and Innovation Mission to strengthen the ecosystem and promote innovation, entrepreneurship and startups in the State. The State Government in collaboration with I K Gujral Punjab Technical University has set-up a 100 Cr Startup Fund called IKG-PTU venture fund to support the startup ecosystem of the State. The State has more than 30 incubators and over 1000 startups have been registered with DPIIT. Punjab is among the top 10 states in creation of jobs by recognized startups in the Country. The network of Incubators developed under various initiatives of DST, MeitY, Ministry of Agriculture, and the State Government has been incubating & promoting startups in software, biotechnology, agriculture, artificial intelligence, and other sectors relevant to the state. The holistic report on Incubation & Startup Ecosystem can be accessed at (https://stidataportalpunjab.org/Incubators). Further, the State STI Data Portal of Punjab can be visited to access more information regarding the ecosystem for promotion of tech-led startups in the State. Recently, a focused SHE (Startup’s Handholding & Empowerment) program for promoting tech-based women-led startups has been initiated by the Punjab State Council for Science & Technology through collaboration with key incubators in the State. Many other prominent initiatives have been taken such as Cannable organized by Chandigarh Angels Network which aims at sensitizing startup ecosystem; Chandigarh Chapter of TiE working on augmenting positive ecosystem for the entrepreneurs and investors; Startup Days & Entrepreneurship Days, Bootcamps under Innovation Mission; etc.