Startup20 Group seeks $1 trillion investment in global startup ecosystem

The Startup20 Engagement Group has sought to raise the joint annual investment of G20 nations in the global startup ecosystem to $1 trillion by 2030 by making debt and venture debt products more accessible to startups, and
facilitate the flow of public and private capital.

In the final Policy Communique issued on Monday under India’s presidency, the group has also suggested a three-tiered global networked institution to create a repository of best practices, policies and market data, and curate marketplaces, mentors, and funds, for seamless access.


It has identified five parameters to define a startup - legal entity, age, size, scalability and innovation. ET had reported in April that the G20 countries plan to finalise a common framework to define startups based on size of business, revenue and innovation.

“The five parameters identified in the startup definition framework are necessary and sufficient to distinguish startups from other organizational forms,” the group said and recommended that countries move towards adopting a definition that incorporates these five parameters, which will enable them to formulate targeted policy interventions for startups. This will allow nations to tailor the definition to suit their particular context and also communicate how they are positioned on the startup definition spectrum.

The group is holding its 'Startup20 Shikhar', the summit meeting in Gurugram on July 3-4. The communique may find a place in the leaders communique in September.

A systematic review of internal data and internal reporting and sharing with investors, and data collection methods to cull out Key Performance Indicators such the number of women served, farmers supported, and water conserved, also have been emphasised in the communique.

“Develop (where needed) common minimum G20 Startup Accounting Standards, Governance Standards, and Startup Due Diligence Standards to facilitate ease of doing cross-border investments,” the group said and sought to facilitate startups’ access to public capital markets across G20 nations by enabling cross-border listings.

As per the communique, the startup definition framework is based on the existing definitions of startups across the G20 countries, the treatment of startups in academic literature, and expert consultations.

“It is a skeleton structure highlighting the important parameters that can be used to characterize startups and distinguish them from other organisational forms example public enterprises or large private firms,” it said.

It has also sought to improve access to capital through financial literacy, flexible funding avenues, and specially formulated fiscal incentives, create policies to incentivise larger corporates working with startups to co-create solutions, and establish an institution, with rotational leadership, to incubate and accelerate startups.