New Delhi, Aug 2 (IANS) The government has informed that 1,97,932 entities are registered under the ‘startup’ category on the BHASKAR platform (till June 30).

The Bharat Startup Knowledge Access Registry (BHASKAR) enables collaboration among the entrepreneurial ecosystem including startups.

BHASKAR is currently in the pilot phase, wherein key features are being tested including peer-to-peer interaction, partnerships, and collaborative engagements, generation of unique personalised identification for stakeholder categories and integration of micro-sites in place for implementation of various Schemes under ‘Startup India’.

The government is undertaking various outreach and awareness measures for BHASKAR across States/UTs to understand the requirement and experience of key user stakeholders including small and micro-enterprises, said Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Jitin Prasada, in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.

“Such measures, include specific outreach to States/UTs, information sessions in workshops and events, and propagation through various social media platforms. These engagements have been undertaken in collaboration with State Startup Nodal Agencies and other ecosystem partners such as incubators, accelerators, colleges, and universities amongst others,” the minister emphasised.

Meanwhile, the government said last week that a net commitment of Rs 9,994 crore has been made to 141 Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) supported under the Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS) scheme (till June 30), as it aims to build a strong ecosystem for nurturing innovation.

Under the ‘Startup India’ initiative, the government is implementing three flagship schemes — FFS, Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS), and Credit Guarantee Scheme for Startups (CGSS) to support startups at various stages of their business cycle.

FFS has been established to catalyse venture capital investments and is operationalised by the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), which provides capital to Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)-registered AIFs, which in turn, invest in startups. SISFS provides financial assistance to seed-stage startups through incubators. Rs 945 crore have been approved to 219 selected incubators (as of June 30), the minister said.

—IANS

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