Jaipur: Rajasthan has over 6,165 startups registered with the Department of Information Technology and Communication (DOITC), many of them getting a leg-up through incubation centres mushrooming across the state. The incubation centres—established by govt, private institutions and universities, are contributing to strengthening the state’s startup ecosystem. Additional director, DOITC, Tapan Kumar, said, “Our vision through initiatives like iSTART is to transform Rajasthan into a fertile ground for entrepreneurship. We’re supporting startups with structured mentoring, seed funding, incubation centres, and access to a wider market. The state is not just creating jobs, it’s creating job creators.”Of 4,356 approved registered startups, 828 have already been funded with a disbursal of Rs 40.95 crore. The growth has been inclusive in nature, with 2,194 women-led startups breaking stereotypes and building legacies. \The ecosystem also nurtures 139 graduate-run ventures and 109 startups led by students, signalling that innovation is being seeded at the academic level and harvested early. Together, these ventures have created nearly 40,000 jobs and attracted Rs 1,005.42 crore in investments. Some examples of home grown startups from Rajasthan include skincare brand Minimalist, DealShare, and e-commerce platform Frontier Market, all of who received early-stage support under the iSTART scheme and unicorns in the making. “We built our first drone prototype using the 3D printer at the incubation centre and tested flight simulations with their VR setup. The mentorship we received helped us avoid early-stage mistakes, and the Rs 5 lakh seed grant gave us the boost we needed to take off,” said Nitiman Mathur from Kapexa.“I’m not from a tech background, but with their support, I was able to build my startup’s website and app from scratch—even without any technical knowledge,” shared Saurabh from KishanBill Agritech.Universities: The Silent AcceleratorsThe unsung hero of Rajasthan’s startup success story is its university ecosystem. From Jaipur to Udaipur, institutions are offering co-working spaces, seed grants, mentorship, and technical support—often at negligible costs. “Universities are the earliest touchpoint for entrepreneurial ambition. By offering support with minimal barriers, we’re helping students dream bigger and execute faster,” said Mahavir Pratap Sharma, startup mentor and key ecosystem enabler.Private incubation centres are also conducting regular mentoring sessions, offering legal and technical hand holding, and connecting startups to industry experts and venture capitalists, making innovation accessible by lowering infrastructure and advisory costs, and raise capital through angel networks, internal grants, and pitch events on campuses and startup conclaves. From students in Tier-2 towns launching tech apps to women entrepreneur starting sustainable brands, Rajasthan’s startup ecosystem is proving geography is no barrier when vision meets support, and redefining the state’s identity as a land of kings to a land of creators.
