Silicon Valley Bank collapse: Learning for Indian startups is to trust Indian banking system more, says Rajeev Chandrasekhar

Minister of state for electronics and information technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Monday welcomed the US government’s intervention in the Silicon Valley Bank crisis to protect the interests of the depositors and the startup community.

“With this US govt action, looming risks to Indian Startups hv passed Learning for Indian Startups from this crisis - trust Indian banking system more,” Chandrasekhar tweeted.



The minister’s comments came after a joint statement from the treasury department, Federal Reserve, and FDIC, saying that depositors with Silicon Valley Bank would have access to all of their money starting Monday, March 13. Further, the statement said that the taxpayer will bear no losses associated with the bank resolution.

The move from the US regulators capped days of uncertainty and chaos within the startup ecosystem and the investor community. Many startup founders were staring at a situation where they would be unable to pay their employees considering how quickly the bank collapsed.

Meeting startups

ET reported on Monday the Centre will meet representatives of Indian technology startups this week to gauge the impact on them from the abrupt collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank. Several early-stage technology startups have sought the IT ministry's intervention after the bank's closure on Friday sent shockwaves across the global technology sector.

“The @SVB_Financial closure is certainly disrupting startups across the world. Startups are an imp part of the #NewIndia Economy. I will meet with Indian Startups this week to understand the impact on them n how @narendramodi govt can help during this crisis.,” he tweeted.


The developments have impacted Indian startups, particularly those operating in the software-as-a-service (SaaS) sector as well as the ones backed by famed startup accelerator Y Combinator. ET reported on Saturday that as many as 60 Indian startups backed by Y Combinator have deposits of over $250,000 each stuck in SVB.

In addition, US companies that serve as vendors to the impacted startups are also concerned over delayed payments, industry executives said.