Zerodha's Nithin Kamath joins the govt's newly reconstituted National Start-up Advisory Council

Nithin Kamath, Founder and CEO of Zerodha is now a nominated non-official member of the government's reconstituted National Start-up Advisory Council (NASC). The Centre on December 18 announced 31 such new members. Constituted under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), it will be led by Union Minister Piyush Goyal.

Announcing the same via social media site X (formerly Twitter), Kamath wrote: "More Indians today than ever before are aspiring to be entrepreneurs thanks to government initiatives and messaging, the media coverage of the start-up ecosystem, founder success stories, and more. The one thing we need to work on as a nation is to unlock domestic capital for start-ups/MSMEs. Reduce the dependence on foreign capital and get Indians to back Indian start-ups."

On what he aims to pursue, Kamath said, “It is maybe time for newer products or vehicles that can be used by accredited investors or those who can take higher risks to be able to invest in equity or debt in start-ups/MSMEs. The appetite in India to invest in newer products is like never before and we need to make use of this opportunity. Apart from reducing external capital dependency, this could also mean that wealth created from startups stays in India.”

National Start-up Advisory Council

The NASC was originally constituted in January 2020 to advise the government on measures needed to build a strong ecosystem for nurturing innovation and start-ups in the country.

The term of non-official members of the council was for two years. Since the term of two years is now complete, the central government nominates non-official members on the council representing various stakeholders such as founders of successful startups, veterans who have grown and scaled companies in India, persons capable of representing the interest of investors in startups, and representatives of associations, the DPIIT said in a statement.

The nominated non-official members include Prof Amitabha Bandyopadhyay, IIT Kanpur, Karthik Reddy, Indian Venture and Alternate Capital Association, Prof Yogesh Singh, University of Delhi, Nithin Kamath, from Zerodha, Nivruti Rai from Invest India, and presidents of industry chambers like CII.

The eighth meeting of the NSAC was held under the chairmanship of the commerce and industry minister on December 19.

The council meets regularly to suggest measures such as fostering a culture of innovation among citizens and students in particular; and promoting innovation in all sectors of the economy across the country, including semiurban and rural areas.