This week on Startup Street, more than one startup was recognised every hour in May and Apple is closing in on a deal with an autonomous vehicle startup, only for its talented engineers. Here's what went on:
More Than One Startup Recognised Every Hour In May
A total of 814 new ventures received recognition under Startup India initiative in May 2019—or more than one every hours.
These entities are spread across 513 districts of 29 states and six union territories, Ramesh Abhishek, secretary at the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, said in a series of tweets on June 4. With this, 18,861 startups have been recognised since the beginning of the initiative.
Startup recognition, however, is just that. It is a formal acknowledgment that the company is part of the ecosystem. While it technically makes the startup eligible to apply for tax breaks, it still has to meet many other criteria.
Here's what Abhishek tweeted:
Startups create valuable jobs. 1,87,004 jobs have been reported by 16,105 DPIIT-recognised Startups, i.e. more than 11 direct jobs per Startup. With each direct job leading to 3X indirect jobs, total jobs created by these startups are estimated at more than 5.6 lakh
From Fund of Funds, SIDBI has committed Rs 2570 crores to 45 Venture Funds catalyzing investments of more than Rs 25000 crore. 244 startups have received funding of Rs 1561 crores.
Intellectual Property Support: 1496 startups receive 80% rebate in patent filing fees, 2761 get 50% rebate in trademark filing fees. 389 avail expedited examination. 103 patents are granted. The fastest patent was granted in 81 days!
Startups can now get government orders on ‘GeM Startup Runway', while getting exemption from prior turnover, prior experience and earnest money deposits. 1862 startups have registered, receiving 7697 orders worth Rs 275 Crores till April, 2019.
Apple To Buy Drive.ai For Autonomous Vehicle Talent
Apple is gearing up to buy autonomous vehicle technology startup Drive.ai in a bid to acquihire or to get more-experienced engineers to the phonemaker, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. The size of the deal remains unknown.
Apple will decide which of the startup's staff and engineers it wants to keep, without using any of its intellectual property, the people quoted above said.
“We believe the potential acquisition price would be below their last $200M valuation,” wrote Gene Munster, a veteran Apple analyst at Loup Ventures, in a research note.
Apple has been working on autonomous driving technology for several years. The project has had its ups and downs. The company cut about 200 workers from the initiative recently, but also said it is committed to the area.
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