In a bid to boost Assam’s agriculture, food processing and tourism sectors, NASSCOM Japan Council has expressed its keen interest in a tie-up with the state government in the ‘Start-up, Stand-up’ initiative. NASSCOM Chief Yukio Takeyari, leading a three-member Japanese delegatio…
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Fund-raising by healthcare start-ups dips 56% to $71 m
Venture capital investment in Indian Healthcare Information Technology (HIT)/Digital Health start-ups has declined 56% year-on-year in 2016 at $71 million compared to the previous year. In 2015, as many as 33 deals were struck for an investment of $162 million. However, in 2016, the number of fun…
Quality Council of India aims to certify 22k MSMEs with bronze level in 2017 under ‘ZED scheme’
The Quality Council of India (QCI) aims to certify minimum 22,000 MSMEs with the bronze level in 2017 under the ‘ZED scheme’ initiated by the Prime Minister of India and the process of assessment will begin in the next 15 days, stated Adil Zainulbhai, Chairman, QCI, here on January 20 at FICCI’s …
Industry, investor bodies unite to seek removal of draconian angel tax
Angel investor networks and startup industry bodies have come together to form a unified startup coalition, seeking the removal of the “angel tax” through recommendations to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP). There is a growing concern after the income tax depar…
States log on to country’s start-up revolution
Despite their high mortality rate, start-ups continue to proliferate. India is currently home to about 4,750 start-ups and over 2,000 were founded in 2016 alone. Realising their potential in the creation of jobs and wealth, various State Governments are competing to attract the fledgling companie…
Indian SMEs confident of growth, more hiring in future: Study
Small businesses in the country maintain a positive outlook for the future in terms of business confidence and employment growth, a joint report by Facebook, OECD and World Bank said on 18 January. Amongst the businesses surveyed, 48 per cent of the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are positiv…
Microsoft taps into industry & trade bodies to boost its SME presence
In a bid to further boost its presence in the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) segment, Microsoft is working with industry and trade bodies to tap into their member companies. A Microsoft executive said that since this initiative was started in 2015, the company had managed to reach out to 85,00…
Govt to augment corpus of MSE credit guarantee fund
Government on 18 January approved a package for supporting the micro and small enterprises across the country, which entails augmenting the corpus of Credit Guarantee Trust Fund for such ventures and doubling the coverage of loans under the credit guarantee scheme. The post-facto approval was gra…
Budget 2017: Start-up bodies appeal for relaxations in tax policies
Prominent startup industry bodies including Indian Angel Network, NASSCOM, Indian Venture Capital Association, TiE and Mumbai Angels have jointly appealed to the government to review taxation policies that adversely impact the startup ecosystem. “Startups have been facing practical difficul…
Govt approves India-UAE MoU for SMEs co-operation
Government on 18 January approved signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and the United Arab Emirates for cooperation in the field of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and innovation. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narend…