MSMEs Take Center Stage at Vejalpur Startup Festival 2.0 as Focus Shifts Beyond Unicorns

India.com

02-05-2025

Vejalpur Startup Festival (File)
Vejalpur Startup Festival held its second edition in Gujarat. It stood up as well known faces not only Indian Startup world but way beyond then this. It brought a great impact on the country's MSME Segments.
A grand event organised in the presence of Union Commerce Minister Shri Piyush Goyal, Paytm's Vijay Shekhar Sharma, and boAt's Aman Gupta, the conversations led to the high-growth startups and unicorn stories. Rather, it made space for the lesser-known, but no less substantial, role of India's 63 million MSMEs, enterprises that make up the backbone of the country's economy, and employ more than 110 million individuals.
During his address, Minister Goyal made a pointed observation: India's economic ambitions cannot be realised without actively supporting its MSME sector. He spoke of the need for practical support through funding access, policy clarity, and easing compliance for the millions of small enterprises that quietly power the nation's growth.
In a moment that many in the audience took to heart, a Certificate of Appreciation was handed to Ahmedabad-based Egniol, a platform that has been steadily working with MSMEs over the years. From guiding businesses through government and private growth schemes to supporting them with compliance, funding assistance, and long-term strategy, the firm has become a trusted partner to thousands of entrepreneurs across India, clearly building the MSME ECOSYSTEM with the help their Two public-interest platforms,i.e., MSME Samvaad and My MSME House. Those are reliable resources for business owners seeking clarity, updates, and guidance that reaches one lakh businesses subscribed and these initiatives play a significant role in driving MSME growth.
The festival also showed the changing ways in which MSMEs are adapting to challenges. With growing regulatory requirements and the need to stay informed, digital platforms are increasingly becoming essential tools for small business owners. They offer one place to track policy changes, apply for schemes, and manage day-to-day requirements, freeing up entrepreneurs to focus on what they do best: run their businesses.
While the Vejalpur Startup Festival remains an arena for fresh ideas and innovation, this year's iteration marked a marked change. The focus shifted, if only for a moment, towards the hundreds of millions of small businesses working behind the curtain, and towards the individuals and platforms they rely on. In doing so, the festival quietly reset its definition of success in India's business scene.
The event did what most startup festivals try to accomplish: energizing founders and bringing about dialogue. What made it different was that it took time to stop and acknowledge those that don't tend to get put in the limelight.