Three years after the first National Startup Day in 2022, there’s a totally different mood in the air.

Back in early 2022, we had just emerged from the peak of startup funding in 2021, which created 42 new unicorns in India. Naturally, startups grabbed the attention of everyone after that boom. The first National Startup Day then was a time to celebrate.

This period of optimism led to towering valuations but was followed by two years of correction, and many of those very startups that flourished in the easy money environment have since failed to live up to the investor faith.

So in 2023 and even in 2024, the National Startup Day was more about reflecting than celebrating.

But these difficult years have led to the startup ecosystem shedding many of its bad habits. In fact, today, there’s an acknowledgement that building profitable businesses is the only way to go and backed by positive momentum on the IPO side, startups have truly turned a corner.

Policy has played a significant role in this — measures such as allowing confidential pre-IPO filings, easing rules for promoters and investors for shareholding periods and lock-ins, and more recently discussing the possibility of easing promoter shareholding limits to allow diluted founders to also make the most of the IPO momentum.

Having said that, we must also acknowledge that this momentum has not only come because of policy. Startup founders and investors have had to change their mindset in the past two years to make the most of this opportunity.

So this National Startup Day — the fourth edition of the marquee day on the national calendar — government and policy action must recalibrate and realign with the needs of the startup ecosystem for 2025.

As in the past, Inc42 is once again playing the role of moderator, forming the bridge between startups and policymakers. The Indian startup ecosystem stands at a critical juncture where the right push can be the tailwind needed for India to become a bigger force in the global tech scene.

To do this, six major focus areas need to be addressed this National Startup Day:

Time To Fix Startup Insolvency Woes

BYJU’S and Dunzo — two of India’s most prominent startups for very different reasons, but both caught in an insolvency crisis that is a sign of how badly India needs to fix the laws around the bankruptcy and insolvency process.

If the Jet Airways case which had dragged on for years is any indication, insolvency and liquidation of assets is not as simple as following the letter of the law, but involves many moving parts and can take several months if not years to be resolved.

Even months after investors have written off assets, startups and their employees continue to be in limbo, with no clarity on any possible solutions. Dunzo and BYJU’S are........

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