New Delhi, May 17 (IANS) The government-run Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) facilitated 7.22 million transactions in April and onboarded over 5 lakh sellers, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) said on Friday.

Among the 5 lakh sellers, more than 70 per cent are small or medium-sized sellers.

At least 12 unicorns and over 125 startups have committed to onboarding ONDC to date, it was announced at the 'ONDC Startup Mahotsav' here.

"The ONDC network has rapidly grown and matured over the past one and a half years, and today’s session reflects both the DPIIT’s and industry’s commitment to democratising digital commerce in India," said Rajesh Kumar Singh, Secretary, DPIIT.

The event saw participation of around 5,000 startups in hybrid mode.

Over 125 stakeholders including startups, unicorns and high-growth businesses such as EaseMyTrip, OfBusiness, Winzo, Livspace, GlobalBees, Pristyn Care, Cars24, Physics Wallah, PolicyBazaar, and Zerodha, signed Letter of Intent (LoI) during the event.

"The 'ONDC Startup Mahotsav' marks a pivotal moment in India's digital transformation journey. By fostering collaboration and innovation within our ecosystem, we are empowering startups to redefine the rules of the game in e-commerce," said T. Koshy, MD and CEO, ONDC.

From around 300 startups in 2016, today India is among the leading startup hubs with more than 1.3 lakh DPIIT-recognised startups.

These startups are operating in more than 55 sectors, bringing innovation across domains, creating more than 13 lakh direct jobs in the country.