JUNE 19: In a significant step toward nurturing grassroots innovation and promoting inclusive entrepreneurship, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with YourStory Media Private Limited—a leading digital platform dedicated to startups and entrepreneurial storytelling.
The collaboration aims to empower one million entrepreneurs from Tier II, Tier III, and rural regions by leveraging technology, local storytelling, and AI-driven tools under the Bharat Project. This initiative aligns with the Government of India’s broader vision of democratizing the startup ecosystem and unlocking entrepreneurial potential in underserved areas.
Under the terms of the MoU, the partnership will roll out digital interventions designed to provide aspiring entrepreneurs with access to resources, mentorship, and exposure. These include AI-powered content creation tools, regional language coverage, and scalable learning modules to help new founders navigate the startup journey.
YourStory, through its experience in startup storytelling and community building, will also support DPIIT in conducting flagship startup events, innovation showcases, and founder-investor networking platforms, with a strong focus on emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Generative AI, blockchain, and data science.
Speaking at the MoU signing ceremony, Shri Sanjiv Singh, Joint Secretary at DPIIT, emphasized the importance of inclusive digital platforms in bridging the urban-rural startup divide. He highlighted that enabling aspiring founders in smaller towns and rural belts with the right digital infrastructure and success stories would help scale India’s innovation landscape and build a truly nationwide entrepreneurial culture.
The formal agreement was signed between Shri Rajesh Kumar, Deputy Secretary, DPIIT, and Ms. Shradha Sharma, Founder & CEO of YourStory and The Bharat Project, in the presence of senior officials from both organizations.
The collaboration marks a strategic move to integrate storytelling, technology, and grassroots engagement into India’s startup policy framework. By focusing on local voices, digital tools, and multilingual content, the initiative aims to remove traditional entry barriers and empower a new wave of founders who can contribute to India’s journey as a global innovation powerhouse.
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