Published on November 05 , 2025
Delhi, India
In a bold step toward equitable entrepreneurship, IIT Madras has rolled out the ‘Startups for All’ initiative, India’s pioneering independent digital platform designed to consolidate and democratize access to critical startup data. Unveiled on November 4, 2025, during the TN Global Startup Summit at IIT Madras Research Park, this venture tackles the persistent “information conundrum” plaguing the nation’s burgeoning ecosystem. With over 100,000 active startups and aspirations for a $5 trillion economy by 2047, fragmented data has long hindered growth—especially for newcomers. Backed by the Centre for Research on Start-ups and Risk Financing (CREST) and incubated startup YNOS, the platform promises affordable, verified insights to accelerate innovation nationwide.
Launch Highlights: A Collaborative Debut at Global Summit
The initiative’s high-profile launch underscores Tamil Nadu’s role as a startup powerhouse, hosting the three-day TN Global Startup Summit from November 5-7, 2025. Key moments include:
- Official Unveiling: Honored by Dr. Palanivel Thiagarajan, Minister for Information Technology and Digital Services, Government of Tamil Nadu, who emphasized the platform’s potential to foster inclusive growth.
- Event Context: Part of a summit drawing global investors and founders, spotlighting sessions on funding trends and policy reforms.
- Development Partners: A seamless blend of academic rigor from CREST and tech innovation from YNOS, ensuring robust data curation and user-friendly interfaces.
This debut aligns with state-led efforts to position Chennai as Asia’s next innovation epicenter, complete with networking zones and pitch arenas.
Core Features: What Makes ‘Startups for All’ Stand Out
At its heart, the platform is a one-stop repository engineered for efficiency and reliability. Standout elements include:
- Comprehensive Database: Curated data on 2.75 lakh startups, thousands of investors, venture capital firms, incubators, banks, and government schemes—verified to eliminate misinformation.
- User-Friendly Tools: Advanced search filters for funding rounds, sector benchmarks, and investor match-making, powered by intuitive dashboards.
- Accessibility Model: Free entry with complimentary credits for initial explorations; transitions to a flexible pay-as-you-go structure, keeping costs under ₹500/month for premium features.
- Security and Updates: Real-time data feeds with privacy safeguards, ensuring compliance with evolving regulations like the Digital Personal Data Protection Act.
These features transform scattered spreadsheets into actionable intelligence, streamlining the journey from idea to investment.
Objectives: Bridging the Data Divide for Inclusive Entrepreneurship
The initiative directly confronts systemic hurdles in India’s startup journey, where 70% of founders cite information asymmetry as a top challenge. Primary goals:
- Equalize Opportunities: Provide tier-2 and tier-3 city entrepreneurs with the same edge as metro-based peers, reducing the urban-rural innovation chasm.
- Boost Decision-Making: Offer benchmarks on valuation trends, exit strategies, and sector hotspots to inform pitches and partnerships.
- Foster Ecosystem Health: Support researchers in policy analysis and educators in curriculum design, amplifying academic-industry synergies.
- Sustainability Focus: Promote green startups through tagged datasets on impact investing, aligning with national sustainability targets.
By curating this “goldmine of insights,” ‘Startups for All’ aims to cut startup failure rates by 20-30% through better-prepared ventures.
Target Audience: Empowering the Next Wave of Innovators
Tailored for those often sidelined in high-stakes funding races, the platform prioritizes:
- Aspiring Founders: First-timers scouting seed capital or co-founders, with tools to simulate pitch decks.
- Students and Researchers: Over 50 million higher-ed enrollees gaining hands-on exposure to real-world metrics for theses or hackathons.
- Mentors and Investors: Quick scans for high-potential deals, enhancing due diligence without hefty fees.
- Underserved Groups: Women-led and social enterprises, featuring dedicated filters for diversity-driven funding.
Early adopters report 40% faster investor outreach, proving its value for bootstrapped innovators.
Expected Impact: Fueling Viksit Bharat and Beyond
Looking ahead, ‘Startups for All’ is poised to catalyze exponential growth in India’s ecosystem, which added 15,000 startups in 2024 alone. Projected ripple effects:
- Economic Multiplier: Could unlock ₹50,000 crore in untapped investments by streamlining matches, contributing to the $1 trillion digital economy goal.
- Job Creation: By nurturing 10,000+ new ventures annually, expect 5-7 lakh direct jobs in tech and services.
- Policy Influence: Data-driven reports to guide schemes like Startup India 2.0, emphasizing regional hubs in states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
- Global Competitiveness: Positions India against Silicon Valley by building a transparent, data-rich environment that attracts FDI.
Success metrics will track user sign-ups (target: 1 lakh in Year 1) and funded startups via the platform.
Insights from Leaders: Voices Driving the Vision
Stakeholders hail the launch as a pivotal shift. Professor Thillai Rajan A, CREST Head, noted: “Information asymmetry has long been one of the biggest barriers for founders. Through ‘Startups for All’, we aim to level the playing field by giving every entrepreneur equal access to credible data that supports smarter decisions and faster growth.” YNOS founders echoed this, highlighting how AI-driven curation cuts research time by 80%. Minister Thiagarajan added that such innovations are key to Tamil Nadu’s ambition of 10,000 startups by 2030, blending academia with actionable tech.
