MeitY Startup Hub and Paytm collaborate to launch program

In order to provide a boost to the fast-growingstartup ecosystem in India and to promote technology innovation as well as sustainable growth of the industries for the Electronics and Information Technology sector in India, the MeitY Startup Hub (MSH), an initiative of the Ministry of Electronics & IT (MeitY), has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Paytm, which is India’s leading digital financial services platform. MSH and Paytm, through this collaboration, will scale deep-tech startups by providing access to platform, knowledge series, experts, resources, and larger community of stakeholders.

India's homegrown Paytm is a leading digital payment and financial technology, owned by India's largest mobile-internet firm One97 Communication platform,that offers full-stack payment solutions to consumers, offline merchants and online platforms. The company is on a mission to bring half a billion Indians into the mainstream economy through payment, commerce, banking, investments and financial services.

The joint efforts of MSH and Paytm aim to create a vibrant ecosystem for SAAS, and app-based startups built on the deep-tech platform technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Cloud computing, etc., through support in terms of mentoring, technological assistance, go-to-market strategies. The collaboration also focuses on fostering partnerships with incubators, accelerators, investors; offering of a "Startup Toolkit" to solve for Payments, Distribution and Growth challenges for early stage startups; providing mentorship and guidance through a Unicorn talk series which aims to inspire new entrepreneurs to build Unicorns out of India; providing subsidized payment gateway services with a view to handhold the Startups in the course of their business journey.

In the words of Praveen Sharma, Paytm Senior Vice President, “Paytm’s partnership with MeitY Startup Hub (MSH) will bring numerous benefits for the Indian startup ecosystem. It will aid India’s startups by providing them access to mentorship, networking and business opportunities. We believe the collaborative approach will prove truly beneficial for India’s startups. We applaud the government’s efforts for India’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and being an Indian startup, we are grateful to play a role in further boosting the same,”

Welcoming the partnership, Dr. AK Garg [Senior Director, Innovation and IPR Division,MeitY] remarked that “MeitY Startup Hub,through its association with Paytm, aims to build a strong deep-tech startup ecosystem by providing support for the path-breaking, solution-oriented innovators. Paytm’s entrepreneurial DNA, strong focus on responsible scaling, futuristic product-orientation, and deep-tech in-house expertise represents combination of resources and conducive environment for Indian startups to learn, grow and scale the heights of success globally.

The strategic alliance between MSH and Paytm envisages building a conducive environment by bringing together various stakeholders, synergizing resources, sharing best practices and ideas, which shall pave the way towards a strong economy built on the twin engines of innovation and technological advancement for strengthening the start-up ecosystem of India.