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Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Piyush Goyal launched the US Startup SETU – Supporting Entrepreneurs in Transformation and Upskilling programme in the Bay Area of San Francisco. The initiative would connect start-ups in India to US-based investors and start-up ecosystem leaders with mentorship and assistance in various areas including funding, market access and commercialization.

SETU is designed to break geographical barriers between mentors based in the US that are willing to invest in entrepreneurship and sunrise startups in India. As per the Government, interactions will be supported through the mentorship portal under the Startup India initiative MAARG, or the Mentorship, Advisory, Assistance, Resilience, and Growth program, which is a single-stop solution finder for startups in India.

The portal is developed with the idea of accessibility from every corner of the country to enable better connection with a mentor who will offer human intelligence in guiding startups. To date, more than 200 mentors have been successfully onboarded on MAARG across the globe.

The core functions of MAARG are to improve ease of access, use Artificial Intelligence for Matchmaking, schedule meetings virtually, host masterclasses, provide a custom dashboard for relevant information, analytics, features, etc., and host cohort-based programs that will allow startup ecosystem enablers to become a part of the program and enable outcome-driven activities.

“We’ve launched the SETU programme where we are looking at supporting entrepreneurs through transformation and upskilling initiatives. We are also looking at a programme where mentorship is being initiated, particularly in tier-2, tier-3 and tier-4 towns and remote areas. A lot of good suggestions have been brought to the table,” Mr Goyal said.

As per reports, about 90% of the start-ups fail in their early days. Lack of experience in handling the business is a key issue, and founders require the right guidance for taking a decision and moral support.

MAARG is inviting applications from Mentors across the world. To date, more than 200 mentors have been onboarded on MAARG, globally.