SVB collapse: Union Minister to meet startups to see how govt can help

As the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in the US left the Indian startup ecosystem worried, Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, on Sunday said he will hold a meeting with the startup Founders and CEOs next week to see how the government can help them during the crisis.

The bank's collapse is going to impact several startups in India which have exposure to its investments and have parked their funds in the bank.

"The @SVB_Financial closure is certainly disrupting startups across the world. Startups are an important part of #NewIndia Economy," Chandrasekhar said in a tweet.

The minister said he will meet with the Indian startups next week "to understand the impact on them and how the Narendra Modi government can help them "during this crisis."

According to recent data by global software-as-a-service (SaaS)-based market intelligence platform Tracxn, SVB had exposure in at least 21 startups in India although it did not reveal the size of the investment in these startups.

Top venture capitalist (VC) firms have also issued a joint statement on the collapse of SVB, one of the largest US banks serving the global startup community, saying they are "deeply disappointing and concerning".

According to reports, SVB was a bank to more than 2,500 venture capital firms, including Lightspeed, Bain Capital and Insight Partners.

On Friday, the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) took control of the SVB's $175 billion in customer deposits.

US-based technology startup accelerator Y Combinator, which has invested in thousands of startups, including at least 200 from India, has written a petition to US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and others, asking them to prevent further shockwaves that could lead to financial crisis and layoffs of more than 100,000 workers.

Over 1,200 CEOs and founders representing over 56,000 employees have already signed the petition, written by Garry Tan, CEO and President of Y Combinator, to save startups and hundreds of thousands of jobs.

--IANS

na/dpb