The Indian Venture and Alternate Capital Association (IVCA), India’s apex industry body for alternative assets, in association with Deloitte, has launched the Start-Up Governance Playbook. 

The playbook claims to provide a holistic framework of different corporate governance recommendations for start-ups to follow and streamline their journey to success. The launch of this guide is part of IVCA’s mission to educate Indian entrepreneurs on the building blocks of governance and foster a culture of trust, transparency, and authenticity in India’s burgeoning start-up ecosystem.

In addition to this, the Playbook will guide in mitigating risks for innovative enterprises, fostering accountability and ownership among stakeholders in India's start-up ecosystem. This will allow companies to enhance their financial performance, attract investors, and build a strong reputation and brand value.
IVCA has claimed that it has taken inputs from multiple ecosystem partners, including founders, investors, experts, and academic/research institutions, to establish a unique, holistic framework of governance for start-ups. 

On the launch of the Start-Up Governance Playbook, Rajat Tandon, President of IVCA, said, “As the world’s third-largest start-up ecosystem, India has achieved substantial peaks. It holds enormous potential for innovation and value creation, but certain challenges and risks can pose stumbling blocks to growth. To ensure smooth sailing, we must establish and reinforce some fundamental principles and strategies. Considering how the journey from ideation to scaling is fraught with difficulties, the corporate governance practices laid down in the IVCA–Deloitte Start-Up Governance Playbook will help entrepreneurs and investors to effectively navigate troubled waters and open up a sea of success.”

Sachin Paranjape, Partner, Risk Advisory, Deloitte India said, "Governance, in simple terms is backing the right intent with appropriate actions. The speed at which start-ups tend to grow, can at times lead to a gap between the stakeholder expectations on Governance and management capabilities to meet those. This 'What to do- how to do- when to do' playbook attempts to map Governance building blocks throughout the journey of startups to help them get better prepared. We hope the Founders, Investors, and Boards utilise this resource guide to strengthen the foundation of the ecosystem as the Indian economy produces many more unicorns for the world."

“To have world-class companies, the Indian ecosystem needs to have world-class governance. This playbook provides necessary guardrails for start-ups and founders to refer to at every stage of their company-building journey and we’re thrilled to see this comprehensive guide come to life,” said Rajan Anandan, Managing Director, Peak XV Partners & Surge and Chair of the VC Council at IVCA.