Union Minister Piyush Goyal chaired a roundtable to celebrate the growth of the unicorns and chart a collaborative way forward to support their growth in the country during the Startup India Innovation Week, Ministry of Commerce & Industry said on Tuesday.

At the meeting, the 40 participating unicorns highlighted their learnings from their experience, factors that enabled their growth, and identified areas to boost the growth of the Indian ecosystem that can help the nation emerge as a global startup leader.

Minister Goyal urged the unicorns to come together and set up a unicorn club or association that would come up with solutions for access to capital for startups in the country. The conversation focused on streamlining regulatory processes to foster a more startup friendly environment, increasing access in Tier-2/3 cities and learning from the best practices set up by financial institutions in the private sector.

Notably, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), this year, celebrated the coming together of the country’s key startups, entrepreneurs, investors, policy makers and other stakeholders on innovation and entrepreneurship across the country from January 10–18.

Marquee announcements and launches included ‘StartupShala’ – Startup India’s Accelerator Programme, a three-month long accelerator programme for early-stage startups to provide them access to knowledge, network, funds, and guidance required to scale up.

Each cohort of the programme will be focused on a particular sector, the first one being CleanTech and 20 startups per cohort will be handpicked by experts through an open call for application.

To inspire students and aspiring entrepreneurs, five dedicated webinars focused on ‘How to Start Up’ were organised titled ‘MAARG Mentorship Series for Budding Entrepreneurs’. Industry leaders and mentors shared insights and key lessons about the basics of starting a startup.

All these sessions were hosted live on Startup India social media handles as well as on the MYBharat portal for the Yuva entrepreneurs.

During the Startup India Innovation Week, over 75 physical events served as a catalyst for entrepreneurship, showcasing India’s thriving ecosystem and igniting the dreams of countless aspiring founders.

From workshops empowering women entrepreneurs to training grounds for incubator champions, the week saw mentors and mentees sharing wisdom, igniting the minds of aspiring pioneers.

Several thought-provoking roundtables were conducted in several cities with stakeholder discussions, forging alliances that will shape the future startup ecosystem.