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Both Arvind Kejriwal and Byju Raveendran can have a future. They will need to reinvent. For a decade or so, the two were feted, applauded and celebrated as shining examples of what startups can achieve in a short period of time: one in the arena of education and the other in the political battlefield.

Prudence was what one can call was at peak when investors were looking for making fresh investments, unlike in 2021 when startup funding peaked. 2023 can also be named as the year of show me the results. We also saw many startups either reducing their losses or turning profitable.

Even as the Interim Budget 2024 is going to be presented in Parliament on February 1 and is not expected to have major announcements, there are expectations from various industries. Startups expect the Budget 2024 to provide measures to push growth momentum and promote India s widespread startup ecosystem.

The ecommerce industry in India is projected to reach a value of $350 billion by 2030, offering immense opportunities for businesses to grow and reach a wider customer base. However, not all businesses are able to leverage the potential of digital commerce, especially small startups that face various challenges in entering and competing in the online space.

The government will launch the second phase of Startup India programme on January 16 with a focus on deep technology startups, said officials. These startups will work in areas including semiconductor chips and related research and design areas, quantum and high-performance computing, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, they said.

During the first week of 2024, as many as 17 startups raised funding amounting to $88.7 million. These deals include four growth stage and 11 early-stage deals. While the details of two transactions remained undisclosed. Last week [2530 Dec, 2023], around 11 growth and early stage startups collectively raised nearly $80.77 million, including one undisclosed deal.

Last year was challenging for Indian technology startups after a decade of rapid growth. Valuations shrank and regulations changed. And yet India added more than 950 new startups in 2023 to take the total count to 31,000, according to a new report. Most startups expect to increase revenue but 46 per cent of them are positive about the funding environment.