DPIIT Partners with Flipkart to Boost Indian Startups

The Indian homegrown e-commerce market Flipkart has signed an MoU with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) to support and empower tech start-ups in India through its Leap and Venture initiative.

The partnership aims to leverage USD 100 million in fund support to enable start-ups to access industry reports, research papers, datasets, and other studies published by government authorities for market research and fast-track patent applications filed by start-ups. To date, under the Flipkart Leap and Venture initiative, the company has already invested in 20 companies and is in the process of identifying more potential high-growth start-ups.

The MoU promotes DPIIT’s vision to enable accessibility and connections to their partners to Startup India’s program. The initiative Flipkart Leap was launched on August 10, 2020, as a four-month-long program for a few select startups that would gain access to Flipkart’s top-notch technical and business mentorship, tools, framework, technology, business support services, and an equity-free grant. The initiative later expanded into two programs, Flipkart Leap Ahead (FLA) and Flipkart Leap Innovation Network (FLIN). Flipkart Leap Ahead has invested in startups like NeuroPixel.AI, Dopplr, and FlexiflyMe, among others.

This marks the fourth collaboration by DPIIT in recent months to strengthen India’s startup ecosystem. In October, it teamed up with HCLSoftware to enhance its manufacturing incubation initiative. Additionally, DPIIT partnered with Johnson Controls-Hitachi Air Conditioning India to set up a startup incubator in Gujarat. Just last week, DPIIT also joined forces with B2B ecommerce platform Moglix to offer support to manufacturing startups.

These initiatives come as India’s startup ecosystem continues to expand rapidly. Earlier this month, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal announced that DPIIT-registered startups had generated over 16.67 lakh direct jobs across more than 55 industries as of October 31, 2024.