Panaji: Goa’s start-up economy is improving with a 27% increase in the number of units recognised by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) under the Start-up India initiative of the central government.
In 2024, the state had 125 DPIIT-registered start-ups vis-a-vis 98 in the previous year, according to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Of these, 22 seed stage start-ups were nurtured by incubators and they received Rs 2.6 crore funding till date, namely from 2021 to 2024, according to the central ministry.
The ministry revealed that government recognition gives start-ups support in various stages of their business cycle. It gives access to flagship schemes such as the Fund of Funds for Start-ups (FFS), the Seed Fund Scheme and the Credit Guarantee Scheme.
The FFS scheme catalyses venture capital investments. The FFS is operated by Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), which provides capital to Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)-registered alternative investment funds (AIF), which, in turn, invest in start-ups.
Only two start-ups in Goa have received financial bolstering to the tune of Rs 124.4 crore from the AIF so far, disclosed the ministry.
The DPIIT start-ups comprise over 52 categories of industries in diverse sectors like pet care, renewables, dating & matrimony among others.
The DPIIT-recognised start-ups also benefit from initiatives such as Start-up Mahakumbh which serves as a platform for stakeholders to network and collaborate. It improves market access and enables public procurement, which lead to growing and scaling up of businesses. The measures complement the regulatory reforms and other ecosystem development events and programmes, said the Union ministry.
The Start-up India initiative launched on January 16, 2016, aims at building a strong ecosystem for nurturing innovation and encouraging investments in start-up units.
The state’s Start-up Goa Cell also registers start-ups with 241 units registered out of 299 that applied for certification.
