Created in partnership with Anymind Group and T-Hub, the GNI Startups Lab India supports high-quality reporting for local communities…reports Asian Lite News
Google on Monday announced the second cohort of the GNI Startups Lab — a 12-week catalyst programme that aims to help the next generation, independent, early-stage Indian news startups achieve financial and operational sustainability.
Created in partnership with Anymind Group and T-Hub, the GNI Startups Lab India supports high-quality reporting for local communities, niche audiences and previously underserved communities across the country.
“Chosen out of over 110 applicants from across India, the ten news startups cover a diverse array of categories of journalism, including investigative, political, medical, youth, climate, and local news that provides a voice to underrepresented communities,” Durga Raghunath, Head of India News Partnerships, said in a blogpost.
“The diverse cohort features newsrooms from around the country, producing news in multiple Indian languages, including English, Hindi, Malayalam, Kannada, and Telugu,” she added.
Moreover, the tech giant mentioned that to support the news industry in tackling the scourge of misinformation, it partnered with subject matter experts to empower journalists and newsrooms with digital tools and skills needed to find, verify, and tell engaging stories while tackling the ever-evolving risk of misinformation.
Through 2023, via efforts like the GNI India Training Network and Data Dialogue, Google supported the training of more than 15,000 journalists and journalism students in over 15 languages, impacting over 240 newsrooms and media colleges.
In July last year, the company launched the GNI Indian languages programme in partnership with Mediology to help 400 language news publishers modernise their online presence and enhance user experiences across web, app and video formats so that more users can better access more content.
India also emerged as the third largest startup ecosystem in the world in 2021, after the US and China, according to Hurun Research Institute…reports Nishant Arora
With Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced to celebrate January 16 as the National Startup Day, the meteoric rise of desi entrepreneurs in the past couple of years, which made global headlines, has received a tremendous boost.
Fresh data reveals that India produced 46 unicorns (companies with over $1 billion valuation) in 2021 alone, which raised a whopping $42 billion, up from $11.5 billion in 2020.
According to a latest report by Orios Venture Partners, the country now has 90 unicorns — from ShareChat to Cred and from Meesho to upGrad — with new ones across the spectrum joining the coveted unicorn club faster than ever.
India also emerged as the third largest startup ecosystem in the world in 2021, after the US and China, according to Hurun Research Institute.
India’s unicorns are currently worth more than $170 billion, and counting.
Modi said that like small businesses, which are the spine of India’s economy, startups are turning out to be the game changers.
According to Satish Shukla, Co-founder of automation and robotics firm Addverb Technologies, the Indian startup ecosystem has come a very long way and has matured a lot.
“We can see startups getting listed on the Indian bourses amid a slew of accessible VC/PE funds for the Indian startups. Several talented people are coming back to India to start on their own or work with startups, thereby reversing the brain-drain process,” Shukla told IANS.
Right from the inception of ‘Startup India’ in 2016, a slew of measures has been taken by the government like pushing for digital mode of payments, 100 per cent tax rebate on profit for a period of 3 years for eligible startups, waiver of norms for PSUs to promote procurement by startups and also encouraging PSUs to fund and nurture relevant startups.
“This has created good-quality jobs for people and has also encouraged a lot of young people to take up the plunge. There is still a long way to go for India and we need not only unicorns but decacorns in the near future that will solve the problems of 21st century India,” Shukla emphasised.
Telugu NRIs to Invest In Indian Startups
India has seen four ‘decacorns’ (companies with a valuation of $10 billion and above) to date — Flipkart, Paytm, Byju’s and OYO.
According to K.R. Sekar, Partner, Deloitte India, the demand and customer base for India is huge and an improved network and better telecom policy will further pave the way for the growth of startups.
Amid the strong buzz, very few Indian unicorns have touched $100 million in revenue and there will be immense pressure on these companies to perform.
“In my opinion, by 2030, 40 per cent of Nifty 50 would be young dynamic technology startups, displacing conventional companies,” said Ritesh Malik, doctor-turned-entrepreneur, investor, storyteller and philanthropist.
“Modi’s focus on building India into the world’s most dynamic and inclusive startup ecosystem is applaud-worthy. His consistent focus on creating job creators vs job seekers is the need of the hour for our nation,” he told IANS.
Ravish Naresh, CEO and Co-founder of fintech startup Khatabook, said that the new initiative by the government is an excellent acknowledgment of the contribution the startup ecosystem is providing to global markets with India-first products.
“The startups from India are attracting great investments because they are the breeding ground of new-age innovations focused on empowering the people in emerging markets with the right digital solutions, impacting the lives of millions,” Naresh told IANS.
Currently, India has the third-largest startup ecosystem in the world, with nearly 60,000 startups.
“While India is already a talent powerhouse, this move will further encourage millions to innovate and find solutions to business and societal challenges, thus making the country a global leader,” Mayank Kumar, Co-founder and MD, upGrad, told IANS.
Niraj Singh, Founder and CEO of used-car retailing platform Spinny, added: “The Indian startup business landscape is far more open and accessible, as compared to some of the biggest economies. We believe that the Indian startup environment will continue to grow at a rapid pace with more new-age businesses coming and shaping the economy”.
