G20 to set standards to define startups

By siliconindia  |  Tuesday, 30 May 2023, 08:51:00 AM IST

G20 to set standards to define startups
G-20 member nations intend to arrive at a common framework to define startups next month, based on a draft policy communique released by the grouping last week. The contours of the framework would come up for discussion on June 3-4 in Goa during the meeting of the Startup20 Engagement Group.
Startup20 India chair Chintan Vaishnav said a common framework would help investors and other stakeholders of the startup ecosystem in the G-20 member countries. "The objective of the Goa meeting is to build consensus on the communique... It may not be feasible to have a single definition," he said, adding that the attempt is to provide a framework of choices to the members countries to arrive at their respective definitions.
There are five task forces under this group-foundation, alliances, finance, inclusion and sustainability. "The idea of the foundation is to come up with a startup definition framework, which is applicable across different economies... The attempt is to provide a framework of choices from which a country can create a definition," Vaishnav said.
There are about 850,000 startups across the G-20 countries, out of which over 98,000 recognised startups are in India. There are about 1,600 unicorns in these economies, of which about 108 are in India. He said there is no common definition of a startup across these nations, which is required for a global startup ecosystem to work together and become interoperable.
Under alliances, the countries are trying to ensure that there is some form of platform to promote cooperation between key stakeholders of the startup ecosystem such as incubators and regulators. Similarly, the idea of the finance task force is to unlock financing of startups in general for nations to invest in these enterprises and also cross-border investments.
"There are many other financial issues like taxation of startups, which is a very major issue across the world," he said, adding in the inclusion part, "we are trying to focus" on marginalised groups and empowering these groups by following best global practices. Further, the idea of the sustainability task force is to say which are those startups that are willing to be measured by sustainable development goals.
According to him, the possible outcomes from the summit meeting in Gurgaon on July 3-4 could include adoption of policy communique on startups, a common framework to define startups, a global innovation centre or a global network of innovation centres that would implement what Startups 20 group wants to take forward into action. Discussions on how to factor startups in global trade would also take place.

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