Aastha Grover

Ms Aastha Grover heads Startup India under DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce. Startup India is a flagship initiative of the Government of India, launched by the Hon’ble PM Shri Narendra Modi in January of 2016.

She’s been the founding member of the team and has seen the ecosystem grow to become the 3rd largest in the world today. The Startup India Hub was announced by the Hon`ble PM on 16th January 2016 and is hosted under Invest India. Her team serves as a single point of contact for the entire Start-Up Ecosystem and enables exchange of knowledge and provides access to market and funding.

Ms Grover serves as members of various startup committees like Samridh (MEITY), Steering Committee FCDO (TDB), NIDHI TBI Awards (DST), Telecom Centre of excellence (TCOE), Powerthon (Ministry of Power) among others.

She’s been the recipient of SheSparks 2023 award in the category titled “SheSparks of India” by Yourstory. She was also felicitated by Legendary boxer, Olympic winner Padma Vibhushan MC Mary Kom under the Imagine Tresor awards for her exceptional achievement and dedication to empowering and uplifting women. She’s also been featured in the TheTechPanda’s 15 Indian Tech Leaders Of 2023 List.
She brings over a decade of experience across consulting, banking, government & entrepreneurship. She’s done her MBA in Finance from SP Jain, Mumbai and graduation from CBS College of Business Studies, Delhi University. Academically meritorious she was also a CBSE topper!

Ms Aastha Grover Heads, Startup India Team. Startup India is a flagship initiative of the Government of India, launched by the Hon’ble PM Shri Narendra Modi in January of 2016.

Her team serves as a single point of contact for the entire Start-Up Ecosystem and enables exchange of knowledge and provides access to market and funding.
Under her leadership, the team has worked towards recognizing over 99,000+ Startups, resolved over 250k queries through a vernacular helpline and created India’s largest virtual incubator with over 650,000 users. They have also conceptualized & executed new policies and projects like Startup India seed fund scheme, State Startup Ranking Framework (awarded by UNCTAD), National Startup Awards among others.

She has created a Pan India facilitation architecture for entrepreneurs, have driven high impact projects to promote favourable policies, simplified regulatory procedures and have provided access to funding and global markets.

Ms Grover works towards the ecosystem activation piece by working with various government departments, Fortune 500 companies and incubators to help pilot initiatives with startups and provide mentorship.

With a zest towards research and writing – Ms Grover has also given key inputs towards the drafting of the new Industrial Policy particularly on the Technology and Innovation thematic group among other policy documents, Ms Grover serves as members of various startup committees like Samridh (MEITY), Steering Committee FCDO (TDB), NIDHI TBI Awards (DST), Telecom Centre of excellence (TCOE), Powerthon (Ministry of Power) among others.

Ms Grover comes from a Consulting and Strategy background, before joining Startup India she has worked with AT Kearney supporting the Financial Institutions sector across the APAC region and HSBC Bank. She holds an MBA in Finance from SP Jain Institute of Management and Research, Mumbai. She was a CBSE topper and an alum of Sukhdev College of Business Studies (CBS), University of Delhi.

SABERA builds a positive narrative, and I am happy to support the initiative and contribute. It breaks the clutter and stands tall for its inclusiveness and integrity. The initiative creates an environment of cohesiveness and supports women and disadvantaged groups