India’s leading startup founders gathered for a closed-door meeting with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal last week, sharing concerns and suggestions for strengthening the country’s startup ecosystem. The meeting was organised by the New Delhi-based Startup Policy Forum (SPF) under its flagship initiative, Startup Baithak.
The discussion followed Goyal’s recent remarks questioning whether startups focused on consumer apps were truly driving innovation. Founders took the opportunity to offer a wide range of proposals aimed at pushing the startup scene towards deeper innovation and a more global outlook.
One key theme emerged early: the need to attract and retain top talent.
Oyo founder and CEO Ritesh Agarwal raised what he called the most crucial question—how can India pull in the world’s best minds, like PhDs, physicists, and data scientists?
He also flagged the need to make the startup environment more welcoming for India's own skilled professionals, pointing to policy tweaks around employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) as a potential enabler.
If India wants to fuel true innovation, Agarwal hinted, it might have to go beyond slogans and put real mechanisms in place to draw and keep world-class talent.
The founders floated several other proposals during the session.
Among the notable ideas was the creation of a pooled capital vehicle led by entrepreneurs themselves. It aims to fund startups with a sharper focus on efficiency and quality rather than just scaling up fast.
There was also a strong push to make the "flipping" process easier—that is, helping startups that have shifted their headquarters abroad move back to India. Simplifying mergers, demergers, and overall business operations were part of the conversation too.
Expanding startup initiatives into smaller towns, attracting more investment into the ecosystem, and boosting government support for global expansion also made it to the list of suggestions
Startups present at the meeting called for stronger government backing for deep-tech innovation—sectors like artificial intelligence, robotics, and biotech, which are often seen as critical for the future.
The founders also discussed ways to make better use of the government’s Fund of Funds, a financial initiative meant to support startups indirectly through venture capital firms. The feeling in the room seemed to be that while the fund exists, its impact on the ground could be sharpened.
CarDekho co-founder and CEO Amit Jain noted that Goyal appeared to have a strong grasp of the points raised, reportedly addressing around 20 issues during the interaction.
Jain added that many founders were now looking forward to the possible formation of task forces for different industries, hoping that it would drive actual action beyond just dialogue.
