The Commerce & Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman launched the Startup India Virtual Hub, an online platform for all stakeholders of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in India to discover, connect and engage with each other.

Speaking about the need to bring the entire ecosystem together on one platform, Nirmala Sitharaman mentioned that Startup India Virtual Hub is an effort to create a marketplace where all the stakeholders can interact, exchange knowledge, and enable each other to grow. It will streamline the lifecycle of existing and potential startups, helping them access the right resources at the right time.

She also encouraged all entrepreneurs in India to utilize this portal and all enabling stakeholders to contribute to the platform as much as possible. The Minister also announced a new initiative, wherein a Startup exchange program amongst the SAARC nations would be organized.

The portal will host startups, investors, funds, mentors, academia, incubators, accelerators, corporates, Government bodies and more. The Hub attempts to solve the problem of information asymmetry and lack of access to knowledge, tools, &experts, especially in the nascent ecosystems across Tier II and III towns.

The Virtual Hub is a dynamic & interactive platform that will facilitate learning & development, networking, mentorship, funding, etc. for startups. The basic principle behind developing this platform is to aggregate different offerings of the ecosystem and enable discovery by the right audience.

Startup India Hub has partnered with various organizations to on-board entrepreneurs & investors, as well as build knowledge modules. To ensure accessibility across various platforms, dedicated Apps are also available on both Android and iOS.

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