On 11th September 2020, the results of the Rankings of States on Support to Startup Ecosystems 2019 were released by Minister of Commerce & Industry and Railways Shri Piyush Goyal. Further, a State Specific Report has also been released, that contains a comprehensive analysis of respective ecosystem, which highlights strengths and priority areas for future. This article summarises the Rajasthan Startup Ecosystem Report 2019 released by DPIIT.
States Startup Ranking 2019
The ‘State/UT Startup Ranking Framework 2019 is spread across 7 areas of intervention with a total of 30 action points, as compared to the 38 action points in the Previous Year State Ranking Framework.
To establish uniformity and ensure standardization in the ranking process, States and UTs have been divided into two groups. While UTs except Delhi and all States in North East India except Assam are placed in Category ‘Y’. All other States and UT of Delhi are in Category ‘X’.
A total of 22 States and 3 Union Territories participated in the exercise. Evaluation Committees comprising independent experts carried out a detailed assessment of responses across various parameters.
For the purposes of Ranking, States are classified into 5 Categories:
- Best Performers: 100 percentile
- Top Performers: More than 75 to less than 100 percentile
- Leaders: More than or equal to 30 to less than or equal to 75 percentile
- Aspiring Leaders: More than 10 percentile and less than 30 percentile.
- Emerging Startup Ecosystems: Less than or equal to 10 percentileÂ
Within each category, entities are placed alphabetically. States are also recognised as Leaders in 7 reform areas of support to startups.
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Results:
As per the 2019 Report, Gujarat and Andaman & Nicobar Islands have the best startup ecosystem in India in their respective categories. Rajasthan, has been ranked as a Leader state in Category X along with Maharashtra, Odisha & Bihar
Rajasthan Startup Ecosystem Report 2019: Summary
Overview of Rajasthan’s Startup Ecosystem:
Rajasthan has attracted investments in a diverse mix of sectors such as Auto & Engineering, Renewable Energy, Tourism, Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM), Mines & Minerals. Sectors such as Information Technology (IT) and Information Technology Enabled Services (ITeS) are gaining momentum in the state because of abundance of skilled workforce, policy incentives and dedicated IT parks.
Rajasthan Startup Policy
Rajasthan announced its startup policy in 2015. Later in November 2019, the state government released the draft of Rajasthan Startup & Innovation Policy 2019 to build upon the momentum and to provide a newer, collaborative and expansive ecosystem.
Key Highlights of Startup Ecosystem in Rajasthan:
iStart Rajasthan
This portal is a single window resource for startups, investors, incubators, accelerators and mentors. The focus of this initiative is to help startups at the ideation stage, early stage or at a stage at which they have a Minimal Viable Product (MVP). The initiative helps the startups in minimising the bureaucracy associated with the initiation of startup’s operations.
QRate:
This is an assessment programmes which provides a detailed report of the startup’s potential and investment worthiness. The mechanism helps to identify problem areas and offers corrective actions to improve the health of business. The scorecard and assessment report provides startup founders with actionable insights to strengthen their business plan and improve chances of receiving funding. The QRate rating is divided into five categories:
- Signature: Score >85% (In addition the startup needs to have 100+ employees and needs to be funded)
- Platinum: Score >85% (In addition the startup needs to have 50+ employees and duly completed one round of funding)
- Gold: Score Range 71%-85%
- Silver: Score Range 51%-70%
- Bronze: Score Range 1%-50%
Techno Fund:
The state has introduced a fund of INR 500 crore with an aim to augment investment infrastructure/ sub-structure in the state. The fund is completely operated by the state.
Rajasthan Venture Capital Fund (RVCF)
The fund was established as the state’s first venture capital fund under Rajasthan State Industrial Development and Investment Corporation (RIICO), a Government of Rajasthan undertaking. RIICO is both a fund subscriber and an investor in the fund.
Nodal Team:
The state has appointed a nodal team with five members form the Department of Information Technology & Communication to support and promote startups in the state. The team comprises of:
- Principal Secretary
- Special Secretary
- Technical DirectorÂ
- Managing Director
- System Analyst
Cohesive Partnerships:
Rajasthan has established cohesive partnerships with educational institutions and business entities to foster growth of the startup ecosystem. Key corporate partners include Amazon Web Services, OYO rooms, Inc42, Yourstory and Google cloud and investors include Axis Bank, Ankur Capital Fund, HDFC Bank, Applyifi, Gilda and Let’s Venture.
Women Entrepreneurship
The Incubation center at Banasthali Vidyapith has been established with the vision of empowering women entrepreneurs. The center provides women led startups access to world-class labs, modern equipment, world class mentors & industry networks, funding opportunities and state-of-the-art incubation facilities.
Challenge for Change:
Department of Information Technology and Communications, Government of Rajasthan has conceptualized Challenge for Change designed especially to give youth an opportunity to partner with state government, implement their ingenious solutions and get direct work orders worth INR 1 Crore each. The major objective of this initiative is to invite IT solutions for various citizen-centric services by the government and recognizing the potential of the young brains.
Performance Snapshot:
The ‘State/UT Startup Ranking Framework 2019 is spread across 7 areas of intervention with a total of 30 action points. The following representation details status of Rajasthan’s implementation on each of the 7 pillars of assessment. Data presented below is the percentile score:
Rajasthan Startup Ecosystem Report 2019
