With the sustained efforts of the Indian Government, the number of Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) recognized startups has increased to 1,17,254 as of 31st December 2023.
And as the Indian startup ecosystem is growing, the number of unicorn startups in the country is expected to reach 250 by 2025 from the current 111 unicorns.
However, the landscape has not always been so vibrant. A few years back, with little to no funding options, no single platform for compliance filing, business advisory, and no legal or tech assistance, Indian entrepreneurs faced several issues in getting their startups set up from the ground up.
Understanding the problems of the entrepreneurs, Shruti Aggarwal, a qualified Company Secretary, started a platform to help Indian startups grow from zero to successful ventures.
Shruti Aggarwal, renowned for her astute analytical prowess, is the founder of The StartupLab, an all-in-one platform for everything a startup needs, like company registration, compliance work, virtual CFO, business development, funding assistance, etc.
The StartupLab, under Shruti’s leadership, has become a cornerstone for startup success, partnering with leading venture funds and aiding over a thousand startups in navigating their early challenges.
A recognized name in the startup ecosystem, The StartupLab’s portfolio startups are funded by eminent Venture funds like – HDFC Capital, Inflexor ventures, 100x.vc, Tie, Almeda Ventures, etc.
Some of its prominent clients are Growfitter, Rare Planet, SahiCoin, Galaxy Card, Eunimart, Heliware, Edgistify, Vitra.ai, Vidyakul, Entitled, Fabrik, Zenpay, Thatmate, Microdegree, Echoapp, finayo, merapashu etc.
Shruti excels in advising and nurturing startups across India and the USA, amplifying their growth trajectories. With expertise spanning Legal Counsel, Business Expansion, and Fundraising, she also fuels her passion as an angel investor in 12 innovative startups.
The platform is working with a vision to create such conditions for startups that make them grow, innovate, create, and succeed without having to think about the taxing legal side of the business. Also, The StartupLab is working with aggressive growth plans and is looking to get around 25+ startups funded by year-end.
Industry Experience And Her Startup
Having been actively involved in the Indian startup ecosystem for the last seven years, Shruti has used her experience working with Indian startups to help several budding entrepreneurs on their startup journey.
Through her venture, The StartupLab, she is putting an end to problems most Indian Entrepreneurs face in their business journey, like Legal, growth,financial or any other.
Lauded as a young dynamic founder, Shruti has inspired and motivated entrepreneurs from every part of the nation, providing corporate sector advising, guidance, and affixing and mentoring several Indian startups.
She believes, “The Indian startup community is full of entrepreneurs who are dreamers and are working with a vision to create something valuable for society.” To help these dreamers in their journey, she started The StartupLab.
Recognizing that quality knowledge is crucial for elevating entrepreneurs to the next level of startup growth, Shruti established The StartupLab. This platform offers an abundance of high-quality content for free, including the latest news from the startup ecosystem. Entrepreneurs visiting the platform can stay informed about funding announcements, mergers, acquisitions, and other significant developments. Additionally, they can access startup stories, updates on entrepreneurial events, and blogs covering various business sectors and their prospects.
The StartupLab also provides ‘Free Advisory to Startups.’
Highlighting her role as a strong-willed, dynamic leader with potent industry knowledge, Shruti, along with her team, has served over 1000 startups in less than three years. During her journey as a founder, she has enabled 17 startups to secure funding in the last 1.5 years.
Growth Of The StartupLab
Since its inception in 2018, The StartupLab has helped 1000+ clients, offering services like Company registration, Legal Compliances, Funding assistance, and Business Development to startups, thereby assisting entrepreneurs in company legalities and taking their business venture to the next level.
To help the Indian startup community grow, The StartupLab is in partnership with renowned organizations like Klub, Razorpay, HDFC capital, ICICI ventures, Airtel accelerator, AIC Banasthali, Viridian Ventures, Faster Capital, Microsoft for startups, and Headstart Delhi, to name a few.
The platform has also collaborated with prestigious projects like UDGAM – The Annual E-Summit of IIT Guwahati, Tech and Innovation Fair, Innopreneurs Startup Contest, and IIT Madras for e-summit shaastra.org tech and Innovation Fair 2021, Eureka IIT Mumbai, Conquest by BITS Pilani, to name a few.
Entrepreneur, Mentor, And Angel Investor
In addition to being an entrepreneur, Shruti extends her guidance to influential institutions like NASSCOM, E-cell IIT Mumbai, E-Cell IIT Kharagpur, Viridian Ventures, and more.
Instrumental in managing a distinguished accelerator program for Indigram Labs Foundation, Shruti is herself an angel investor and mentor at platforms like Coffeemug, Viridian Ventures, and various e-cells.
Presently, Shruti is mentoring 4 startups, and in her journey till now, she has steered the success of over 500 startups in various capacities, empathetically addressing their pain points and fostering their progress.
Shruti’s actions underscore her deep passion for the startup ecosystem. She is currently planning to launch an investor platform, designed to provide funding of up to INR 2 Crore to revenue-generating startups. Additionally, she aims to establish an incubator program. Through this initiative, the StartupLab will select 10 startups from sectors such as deep tech and fintech.
For her services, she has been awarded as a startup enabler on the occasion of the National Leadership Summit on Women & Education and recognized with the Women Shine award by CWE. She has been recognized as the top 150 SME Women entrepreneur-2019 and as a Startup Enabler by the Indian Women Excellence & Leadership Awards 2018.
