Rajasthan’s iStart Portal | 18 Nov 2025

Why in News?

The Government of Rajasthan announced that the iStart portal has emerged as a major driver of the state’s startup ecosystem, with over 7,100 startups registered and more than ₹1,000 crore in investments secured.

Key Points

• iStart is the flagship startup promotion programme of the Government of Rajasthan through the Department of Information Technology & Communications (DoIT&C).
• It offers a single-window online platform for startup registration, incubation, funding, mentorship and market access.
• The programme covers startups across sectors, including green technology, manufacturing, services, mobile/IoT, and solutions for local challenge categories.
• Incubation support is provided via iStart Nest centres and Techno Hub Jaipur, offering free workspaces, internet connectivity, hardware resources and mentorship.
• Financial incentives include idea-stage grants, seed funding, soft loans and equity investments, with additional prioritisation for women-led and rural startups.
• The ecosystem also includes the QRATE rating system to assess startups’ investment readiness, and provisions for government procurement to ensure market entry for early-stage enterprises.
• The portal has reportedly created more than 42,500 jobs in the state through startup activities.