National Startup Day: Empowering Youths Through Entrepreneurship

                                                                                                                                                                                   

India’s startup ecosystem is among the largest in the world, boasting over 90,000 registered startups and over 100 unicorns as of 2025. The government’s Startup India initiative, launched in 2016, laid the groundwork for fostering innovation, simplifying business regulations, and providing funding support to budding entrepreneurs. The Prime Minister declared startups the “backbone of New India” and emphasized the need to inspire more individuals to pursue entrepreneurship. National Startup Day acts as a platform to celebrate the achievements of startups and encourage youth to turn their innovative ideas into impactful ventures. This year National Startup Day was observed on January 16,2025, which was Thursday. National Startup Day is an annual observance in India dedicated to recognizing and promoting the vibrant startup ecosystem. The nation has celebrated and observed National Startup Day on 16th January 2025 with pride and enthusiasm. On January 16th January 2025 India marked nine years of Startup India, a transformative journey that began in 2016.      

Launched as a flagship initiative of the Government of India, Startup India aimed to nurture innovation and catalyze the growth of startups across the country .This year the nation has commemorated the day ,Udyamotsav 2025, as part of the National Startup Week celebrations. During the inaugural Startup Innovation Week, on January 15,2016, PM Modi announced the commemoration of Startup Day on January 16, to recognize the economic contributions made by entrepreneurs while celebrating startups ‘crucial role in India during the first Startup India Innovation Week. As a result ,since 2022, National Startup Day has been commemorated every year on January 16 and this year it fell on 16 January Thursday. National Startup Day aims to create a supportive environment for entrepreneurial ventures while celebrating startups crucial role in stimulating economic growth and employment creation. It is a platform designed to empower student entrepreneur by facilitating their engagement with the investor community, organized by the Ministry of Education. It will enable student entrepreneurs to pitch their startups, seek funding ,and receive mentorship on business models and scaling strategies, taking place across 14 Indian cities ,including Delhi-NCR, Jaipur, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Trivandrum, and Guwahti. January 16 was observed as National Startup Day in India and 2025 is expected to mark a significant milestone in country’s entrepreneurial journey and the day has been observed to celebrate the spirit of innovation and creativity that have driven growth of startups across the country .Startup policy Forum - SPF has launched Startupthe  Baithak and Startup Baatcheet to have celebrated National Startup Day 2025.National Startup Day is celebrated on 16th January every year. 

The day honors  the creativity, determination, spirit of startup founders. The Startup India initiative was launched by the Government of India in 2016 to promote entrepreneurship and innovation, create jobs, build an ecosystem for startups, and derive economic growth. The initiative includes several programs, including:- 

1. Infrastructure-Enhanced infrastructure, including incubation centers.

2. Intellectual property rights - IPR’s. Easier IPR facilitation, including patent filing, and access to high-quality IPR services.

3. Regulatory environment, a better regulatory environment, including tax benefits, easier compliance, and improved company setup.

4. Exit mechanisms - Faster exit mechanisms to allow entrepreneurs to relocate resources.5-Income tax benefits-Startups are exempt from income tax for three years after its incorporation year.

6. Public procurement-Related norms for public procurement, including exemptions from "prior experience" or "prior turnover’’ criteria.

7. Government e Marketplace - GeM-Startups can register as sellers on GeM to sell directly to government entities. The Startup 20 Engagement Group, which works to harmonize and collaborate among the largest global economies. 

To create innovation hubs and research parks to encourage research and innovation. Startup India was launched by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on 16th January 2016.January 16, National Startup Day celebrates the transformative role of startups and entrepreneurs in shaping economies and societies. It honors innovation, resilience and creativity, highlighting the impact of startups in driving technological advancements and sustainable solutions. The day honors the creativity, determination, spirit of startup founders so as to develop the industry and economy. With over 99,000 registered firms and an ecosystem worth dollar 500 billion, India is the world’s third - largest startup cluster. 

Startup India is a flagship initiative of the GOI, intended to catalyze startup culture and build a strong and inclusive ecosystem for innovation and entrepreneurship in India. India’s startup journey began in the late 1990’s and early 2000s. These companies laid the groundwork for a new wave of innovations and entrepreneurship. When the young and brilliant minds behind the success of India’s startup environment were still studying outside India, they realized that so many new services a products that they were using there had not yet been explored in India. The known names like Ola & Flipkart came into being. This is where the inspiration and courage came to take the first step towards the fastest-growing startup environment in the world. The launch of companies like MakeMy Trip-2000, Filpkart-2007 and Zomato -2008 showed that Indian startups could not only exist but also thrive in the competitive global market. As India marks nine years of the Startup India initiative, the country’s startup ecosystem has grown exponentially, becoming the third largest in the world with over 1.6 lakh government - recognized startups. These startups have not only revolutionized industries but also created 1.6 million jobs, contributing significantly to the nation’s economic development. 

National Startup Day is more than a celebration,it is a tribute to the spirit of entrepreneurship. It highlights the collaboration between startups, investors, mentors ,and policy makers in fostering innovation and self-reliance, initiated in 2016 as part of Startup India ,the day emphasizes the government’s commitment to creating a conducive environment for startups to thrive. In short by acknowledging the contributions of startups, the day also inspires aspiring entrepreneurs to pursue their dreams and contribute to the nation’s growth story. The nation feels proud of the success of the Startup entrepreneurs and their role and contribution in the economic and industrial development of the country. 

(Vivek Koul)