A few weeks ago, this column laid out how Jammu & Kashmir built the foundation of a startup ecosystem: an institution in JKEDI that evolved from a training body into a full-spectrum enabler, a Startup Policy that moved from notification to real operational delivery in under a year, more than twenty-five venture capital funds engaging directly with local founders, university incubators taking root at IIT Jammu, SMVDU Katra, IUST Pulwama and SKUAST Kashmir, and more than 5,000 students walking into entrepreneurship boot camps across all 20 districts.
Building that foundation was the necessary first act.
What comes next is harder and more important.
Foundations are not outcomes
The honest reckoning we owe ourselves, and the investors and stakeholders we are asking to engage seriously with this ecosystem, is that the next phase will be measured very differently from the last.
