Company Backgrounder

Founded in 2020, ADIF (Alliance of Digital India Foundation) is a think tank for India’s digital startups formed to fully capitalise on the sector’s promise with the objective of its long-term prosperity in mind. ADIF aims to build an alliance of founders and startups, all of whom are committed to the success and growth of Digital India.
A Section 8 non-profit organisation, ADIF was founded by the likes of Sairee Chahal of Sheroes, Murugavel Janakiraman of Matrimony.com and Ritesh Malik of Innov8. ADIF is committed to inspiring India’s youth to consider technology entrepreneurship to create jobs and wealth in our society thereby promoting entrepreneurship across the nation.

ADIF’s mission is to transform the Indian startup ecosystem into among the best in the world while upholding the essence of the Indian startup playbook or the Indus Valley Playbook and ensuring that it emerges as a strong alternative to the dominant Silicon Valley Playbook. ADIF also aspires to be the voice of Indian startups, represent their views before the government and industry forums, and work towards creating favourable policy and regulatory frameworks. It will bring together founders, promote collaboration and celebrate startup successes to make India a more vibrant startup nation.

Staff Profiles

Sijo Kuruvilla George, Executive Director at ADIF

Sijo Kuruvilla George is the Executive Director of the Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF), a think tank for India’s digital startups that liaisons between the government and the regulatory bodies. Sijo is responsible for all executive decisions and communications of the foundation.

Read the full profile.

Tom Thomas, Director of Policy and Research at ADIF

Tom completed his B.Tech from the National Institute of Technology, Warangal and a PG in Management from the Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode. He has worked with private, public, and academic incubators in the past and has experience designing and launching programs for startups with national and international partners.

Read the full profile.

Jibin Jose, VP of Startup Relations at ADIF

Jibin, a graduate in computer science and engineering, has been a startup founder – building an IoT Hardware company called Flipmotion. ADIF co-founder and board member Ritesh Malik wrote the first cheque at Flip and they ended up raising capital from other top investors like Accel Partners and Qualcomm Ventures after winning the prestigious Qualcomm QPrize 2015 (runner-up).

Read the full profile.

Amanat Khullar, Content and Editorial Manager at ADIF

Amanat, who holds a BA (Honours) in Economics from the University of Delhi and an MS in Journalism, Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, has experience in reporting, content, editing, and audience engagement. She has previously worked with Scroll.in, Quartz India and The Wire.

Read the full profile.

ADIF Alliance Members

Our alliance is over 350-member strong, including institutional and individual entities. We’re growing at 10-25 members per week.

Read more about our alliance members here, here, here and here.

Press Releases

1. ADIF welcomes Govt’s credible step towards removing predatory e-commerce practices​​. [July 21, 2021]

2. ADIF aims to transform the Indian startup ecosystem to be among the top 3 globally by the year 2030. [July 21, 2021]

3. ADIF's Letter to South Korean Ministry on the Proposed Revision to the Telecommunications Business Act.

Press Coverage

On CCI’s probe on Google abusing its dominant position

1. Google responds to CCI probe, says Android connected millions of Indians to Internet [ETtech]

2. Google abused dominant position, antitrust probe finds [TechCrunch]

On South Korea fining Google $177M for abusing dominant position

1. ADIF wants India to do a South Korea against Google [ETtech]

2. Ridiculous state of affairs, says MPL cofounder Sai Srinivas on Google's app policies [Moneycontrol]

3. Indian Startups Call Govt To Speed Up Anti-Trust Probe As South Korea Slaps Fine On Google [Inc42]

4. ‘Enabling legislation crucial to nurture a competitive ecosystem’ [Hindu Business Line]

On Finance Minister’s assurance to address founder issues

Indian Startups Hail Govt’s Move To Address Hurdles Pushing SaaS Platforms To List Abroad [Inc42]

On the verdict against AppStore in the US

1. Blow to Apple over App Store [The Telegraph]

2. Indian Startups Too Want Govt To Enact Law Over Google, Apple App Store Rules [Inc42]

3. Apple app-store ruling in US echoes among Indian startups [ETtech]

On WhatsApp allegedly reading users’ chats

1. WhatsApp Allegedly Spying On Chats, Secretly Monitoring Users In India Despite Encryption Claims [Inc42]

2. Start-ups body slams FB’s contract staff reviewing WhatsApp ‘reported’ chats [Hindu Business Line]

3. Start-ups body slams FB’s contract staff reviewing WhatsApp ‘reported’ chats [You Startups]

On Google, Apple’s app-store policies

1. Indian startups go vocal on app store policies again [ETtech]

2. Tackling monopoly: South Korea ‘anti-Google law’ likely to set precedent for nations [Indian Express]

3. Indian app industry cheers South Korea move to rein in Apple and Google [IANS]

4. India Too Needs Law To Tame Unfair Practices By Google, Apple: ADIF [Inc42]

5. App developers hope South Korea’s ‘anti-Google bill’ will set precedent for India [Indian Express]

ON ADIF’s appeal to the RBI to extend the compliance deadline on the norm prohibiting payment aggregators and payment gateways from storing card details

1. Extend compliance deadline for halting storage of card details: ADIF to RBI [Hindu Business Line]

On ADIF’s panel discussion on the Google commission issue

1. 30% Google Play Store Lagaan On Transactions Will Hamper India’s Growth [Inc42]

On third-party cookie issue

1. WHEN THE MARKETING COOKIE CRUMBLES [Impact Magazine]

On platform commission issue

1. Indian start-ups seek laws for app store transactions [Hindu Business Line]

On Google’s new ad platform

1. Indian start-ups oppose Google’s new ad platform [Hindu Business Line]

On the amendments to the LLP Act

1. Cabinet approves amendments to LLP Act [Hindu Business Line]

2. 'Amendments to LLP Act to boost ease of doing business' [IANS]

On e-commerce policy

1. Proposed e-commerce norms can hit consumer interest, increase compliance burden for firms [Economic Times]

2. Proposed e-commerce norms can hit consumer interest, increase compliance burden for firms [Outlook India]

On ADIF’s mission

1. ADIF aims to make Indian startup ecosystem among top 3 globally by 2030 [Financial Express]

2. ADIF aims to rank India startup ecosystem in Top 3 globally by 2030 [Economic Times]

3. ADIF aims to make Indian startup ecosystem among top 3 globally by 2030 [Business Standard]

4. ADIF’s Sijo Kuruvilla George Aims To Help Indian Startup Ecosystem Reach Top 10 In Rankings By 2025 [Inc42]

On Sijo Kuruvilla George’s appointment

1. Sijo Kuruvilla George joins ADIF as Executive Director [Economic Times]

2. Sijo Kuruvilla George Joins ADIF As Executive Director [Business World]

3. ADIF appoints Sijo Kuruvilla George as executive director [Outlook India]

Our Work

1. ADIF's recommendations to the Department of Consumer Affairs on the draft e-commerce rules

2. ADIF extends support to South Korea's proposed revision to the Telecommunications Business Act

3. ADIF supports the abolishment of retrospective taxation provision

4. ADIF's recommendations to the RBI on the storage of card data

For any other media-related queries, please reach out to Amanat Khullar at amanat@adif.in.