MC Tech3 | Govt to help startups tide over SVB storm; Error 404: Unicorns not found; and more

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In today’s newsletter:

• Govt to help startups tide over SVB storm
• Error 404: Unicorns not found
• Zoho's Sridhar Vembu clears air on family feud

Govt to help startups tide over SVB storm

The Indian government has stepped in to help the country’s startups affected by the collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank.?

• Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that he will suggest a list of measures to the Finance Ministry so that startups can move their money easily to the country

In a virtual meeting with more than 450 startups today, he heard from distressed entrepreneurs and investors about the challenges they face in recovering their deposits and transferring money back to the country.

“We need a financial airlift by the government in this situation,” said an investor, while describing how international fund transfers from the US to India were not going through.

The roadmap

While the startup founders suggested a slew of measures to the minister, Chandrasekhar said it was important to first take care of the immediate crisis.

• He asked the startups to consider shifting the money to bank accounts at GIFT IFSC in Gujarat which has benefits akin to a foreign jurisdiction for financial services
• The minister’s suggestions to the FM will include a credit line for affected startups, easier rules for account opening in GIFT City, and mirroring credit products available in the US

In the eye of the storm

With the startup ecosystem still trying to get a grip on things, we thought it would be a good idea to let our readers hear it straight from the horse's mouth. So, we've published a first-person account of the crisis by the founder of SuperOps.ai.

“The greatest lesson I would say is that you can’t plan for everything – a lot can be achieved by staying calm and knowing that you can’t control everything…,” Arvind Parthiban writes.

Read Arvind Parthiban’s column?

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