ONDC Startup Mahotsav: 12 unicorns, over 150 startups showed interest to get onboarded

Over 150 startup stakeholders and as many as 12 unicorns and high growth businesses such as EaseMyTrip, OfBusiness, Winzo, Livspace, GlobalBees, Pristyn Care, Cars24, Physics Wallah, PolicyBazaar, and Zerodha, signed Letter of Intent (LoI) during the first of its kind 'ONDC Startup Mahotsav' event.

Over 150 startup stakeholders and as many as 12 unicorns and high growth businesses such as EaseMyTrip, OfBusiness, Winzo, Livspace, GlobalBees, Pristyn Care, Cars24, Physics Wallah, PolicyBazaar, and Zerodha, signed Letter of Intent (LoI) during the first of its kind 'ONDC Startup Mahotsav' event. These LoIs will go ahead and lead startups of the country to collaborate with the ONDC platform, one of India's key digital public infrastructure.

The event, organised by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), witnessed the participation of around 5,000 startups in hybrid mode. The event is intended to symbolise the celebration and collaboration of two of DPIIT's flagship initiatives: the Startup India initiative and the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC). Rajesh Kumar Singh, Secretary, DPIIT, addressed the gathering, underlining the government's commitment to nurturing and encouraging ecosystem for startup growth and innovation.

"The ONDC Startup Mahotsav is an inflexion point for startups in India to leverage the opportunities unlocked by ONDC. The network has rapidly grown and matured over the past one and a half years, and today's session reflects both the DPIIT's and industry's commitment to democratising digital commerce in India," Singh said. Sanjiv, Joint Secretary, DPIIT, said, "Startups can play a pivotal role in ONDC ecosystem by driving innovation, fostering competition and enhancing consumer choice. More than 150 startups have committed to onboarding the ONDC network in today's event, reflecting the excitement and momentum of the national initiative".

T. Koshy, MD and CEO, ONDC, talking about this collaboration, said, "The ONDC Startup Mahotsav marks a pivotal moment in India's digital transformation journey. By fostering collaboration and innovation within our ecosystem, we are empowering startups to redefine the rules of the game in e-commerce." The government launched the Startup India initiative in January 2016 with the intent of supporting entrepreneurs and building a robust startup ecosystem in the country. From around 300 startups in 2016, today India is among the leading startup hubs, with more than 1.3 lakh DPIIT-recognised startups.

These are operating in more than 55 sectors, bringing innovation across domains. The startups are said to have created more than 13 direct lakh jobs in the country. Another marquee initiative of the government, the ONDC, was launched in 2021 as a first-of-its-kind protocol, with a mission to democratise digital commerce.

More than five lakh sellers have been onboarded on the platform, of which more than 70 per cent are small or medium-sized sellers. In April 2024, ONDC facilitated around 7.22 million transactions. DPIIT believes creating and discovering markets is a challenge for startups that can be addressed through the ONDC platform.

India has developed some of the finest digital public goods infrastructure, which could change lives the world over. The next in line could be its Open Network for Digital Commerce, which is currently in its nascent stage of adoption. Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) is aimed at promoting open source networks for all to exchange goods and services on the internet, and most importantly, it is independent of any specific platform. India has taken the path of building public digital infrastructure for serving citizens and UPI, and Jan Dhan, Aadhar and CoWin are some of the examples. (ANI)

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