₹500 Crores, Not A Single Unicorn: Gujarat’s Student Startup Mission On A Rather Downhill Trail

A unicorn startup is one valued at $USD 1 billion (₹8,300 crore+), operating on private funding. The term originated in 2013. Once listed, a company exits the unicorn club. Although Gujarat provides early-stage funding, it lacks scale-up financing. There is also a clear policy–outcome gap.

Earlier, the government had launched SSIP 1.0 (2017–2021), with a budget outlay of ₹100 crore. After reviewing its challenges and loopholes, SSIP 2.0 (2022–2027) was introduced, with an enhanced budget of ₹500 crore. Its primary goal is to engage 5 million students in innovation, support 10,000 Proof-of-Concepts (PoC)/prototypes, facilitate 5,000 Intellectual Property (IP) filings, and promote 1,500 student startups.

AI, Machine Learning, EVs

The policy promotes areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, electric vehicles (EVs), robotics, waste management, semiconductors, blockchain, green energy, and climate action. As per the guidelines, grants must be disbursed within 45 to 60 days, prototype support must be given in two to three installments, and a mentor network must be developed.

Reeling Under Shortcomings

However, awareness remains limited in rural colleges. Balancing academic workload with mentoring has also been difficult. The quality of patents is at risk. Industrial linkages are weak, and the system heavily relies on venture cycles.

According to a startup expert, SSIP relies on a multi-layered approval structure consisting of SLAC-PIC-PMU-Institute committees, making decision-making slow and complex. Synchronising with the pace of startup growth becomes difficult.

The complex fund processing system causes considerable delays. While mentorship is emphasised, subject-matter experts are not available across all colleges. Weak industry connections leave many PoCs stuck at the “demo level.” KPI pressure and an event-driven culture also often suppress genuine talent.

Roadblocks For Startup Ecosystem

In a document titled, “Navigating The New Age: Innovation Policy Prescriptions For The Startup Economy In Gujarat,” senior IAS officer Mukesh Kumar says that despite India being one of the world’s fastest-growing startup ecosystems, several policy gaps, a lack of coordination, and structural barriers continue to obstruct innovation.

There are hurdles in intellectual property (IP) commercialisation, limited access to prototyping facilities, and restrictions on faculty entrepreneurship. Scaling and global market entry remain difficult. The angel investment ecosystem suffers from poor coordination, investor incentives have been inadequate, and there has also been a shortage of post-incubation support, besides the absence of department-specific startup policies.

A Rocky Patch

• Delay in implementation

Despite a 45 to 60-day grant disbursement target, many institutions face delays. The reach is weak in rural and semi-urban areas, making it difficult to achieve the 10,000 PoC target. Only 20 to 30 per cent of students reportedly receive actual benefits.

• Lack of resource monitoring

Of the ₹500 crore budget, 70 per cent is allocated for PoC/IP support, but infrastructure expenses overshadow spending. KPI tracking remains weak, and limited use of the UDAYAM COGENT digital platform leads to inefficient fund utilisation.

• Poor inclusive outreach

There are no dedicated mechanisms for dropout students, women, or minority communities; besides, reaching five million students across rural areas remains a challenge. Women-led startup participation is just 15 to 20 per cent.

• Gap in market linkage and scaling

Although IP filing support exists, commercialisation is low. The target of incubating 1,000 startups is far behind schedule. 

• Lack of evaluation and feedback

Annual impact reports are mandatory; yet, little analytical review is done. While hackathons are successful, long-term outcome assessments are missing. Gujarat ranks high in national startup rankings, but student-centric outcomes are lacking.

Good Concept, Weak Execution

Experts believe that the issues are primarily procedural. The policy design is excellent, but execution gaps weaken the impact.

The recommendations include:

• Upgrading the digital dashboard for grant disbursal
• Increasing rural awareness via mobile vans and NGO partnerships
• 30 per cent special quota for dropouts and women
• Hybrid (online/offline) mentorship programmes
• Stronger industry partnerships through iHub
• Market boot camps for commercialisation after IP filing
• Introducing a dedicated SSIP seller category on platforms such as GeM

Faculty Mentorship Must Be Incentivised

According to a startup founder, annual impact assessments should be conducted by IITs or consulting firms such as KPMG to measure success rates. A feedback portal for students and startups is essential for data-driven policy updates. Increasing CSR and private funding to ₹700 crore would enable faculty incentives for mentoring. Dedicated SSIP cells should be mandatory in all colleges and universities. Grant disbursement requires a digital score-based evaluation portal. Tier-2 and Tier-3 colleges must be brought into the mainstream.

A senior IAS officer stated that, despite being a visionary mission, the ground reality shows that an innovation culture cannot be built solely through grants. Experts emphasise the need for stronger governance, industry connections, and mentor networks. Due to these bottlenecks, Gujarat has zero unicorns. A lack of funding and mentorship forces founders to relocate to Bengaluru and other metropolitan hubs.

Gujarat Trails in Unicorn Count

To create unicorns, startups need:

Ø  Deep scale-up support

Ø  Large Total Addressable Markets (TAM)

Ø  Global revenue focus

Ø  Senior-tier engineering leadership

Entrepreneurs from Gujarat often shift their headquarters to Bengaluru or Delhi to attract funding. Currently, Gujarat does not have even a single unicorn startup.

Unicorn Count Across Other Indian States:

State/UT           Unicorns

Karnataka             52

Maharashtra         19

Haryana                19

Delhi (UT)             15

Uttar Pradesh        09

Tamil Nadu            04

Telangana             02

Gujarat                  00

India Total            120

Unicorn Startups: Karnataka Leading From The Front

Karnataka leads with 52 unicorns, primarily due to Bengaluru — India’s Silicon Valley. The state accounts for over 43 per cent of India’s unicorns, powered by robust infrastructure, skilled talent, and investor-friendly conditions.

Haryana and Maharashtra hold the second spot with 19 unicorns each. Gurugram, home to startups such as Zomato and Paytm, benefits from its proximity to Delhi.

Delhi (Union Territory) ranks fourth with 15 unicorns. Its political and economic ecosystem fosters growth in fintech, edtech, and service-driven startups

Uttar Pradesh holds the fifth spot with nine unicorns — primarily driven by Noida’s tech boom. Tamil Nadu (four unicorns based out of Chennai) and Telangana (two unicorns based out of Hyderabad) show promise.

However, 29 of India's states and union territories have zero unicorns, including Gujarat, Kerala, and West Bengal, despite their strong economies. These regions lack critical startup infrastructure and scale-up ecosystems.