Highlighting India’s emergence as the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal has said that nearly 250,000 startups have been established over the past decade. Minister highlighted this growth at the India-Japan Startup Roundtable held in Tokyo. According to him, India’s large domestic market, deep STEM talent pool, digital public infrastructure and rapidly expanding innovation ecosystem make it an attractive destination for Japanese technology, investment and innovation partnerships.
Goyal proposed a forward-looking framework for the next phase of India-Japan startup cooperation centred on four pillars: a Japan-India Deep-Tech Capital Corridor to mobilise patient capital for early-stage research, deep-tech innovation and commercialisation; a Two-Way Innovation Bridge connecting universities, incubators, R&D institutions, laboratories and testing facilities in both countries; Manufacturing and Technology Integration, combining India’s scale, engineering talent and entrepreneurial dynamism with Japan’s precision engineering, technology and manufacturing capabilities; and Joint Startup Pitching Platforms to facilitate regular interactions between Indian founders, Japanese corporations, venture funds and strategic investors.
Meanwhile, the Roundtable recognised the highly complementary strengths of India and Japan. India offers scale, talent, digital capabilities and entrepreneurial speed, while Japan brings patient capital, advanced technology, manufacturing excellence and global quality standards. Combining these strengths can help create globally competitive enterprises and technologies capable of serving markets in India, Japan and third countries.
