September 10, 2019
Delhi-NCR), with 7,039 startups and 10 unicorns, is ahead of Bengaluru, Mumbai and Hyderabad
Delhi-NCR accounts for over 50 per cent of valuation of the Indian startup ecosystem at US$46-56 billion
Three of the four most valuable listed Internet companies in India are based out of Delhi NCR
Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune are among the world’s top-100 startup hubs
TiE Delhi-NCR, a platform to promote entrepreneurship, and Bangalore-based research firm Zinnov recently released a report, ‘Turbocharging the Delhi-NCR start-up ecosystem,’ on India’s startup landscape. According to the report, the National Capital Region (Delhi-NCR), with 7,039 startups and 10 unicorns is ahead of Bengaluru, India’s “technology capital,” in terms of total startups. While Bengaluru is home to 5,234 startups, Mumbai and Hyderabad have 3,829 and 1,940 startups, respectively.
Within Delhi-NCR, Delhi accounts for 4,491 startups, while Gurugram has 1,544, and Noida 1,004. NCR not only beats Bangalore in the number of active startups, the region also has the highest cumulative private market valuation since three of the four most valuable listed Internet companies in India are found here. NCR is home to the most number of unicorns as well.
Delhi-NCR accounts for over 50 per cent of the cumulative valuation of the Indian startup ecosystem at US$46-56 billion, compared to Bengaluru’s startup valuation which stands at US$32-37 billion, and Mumbai’s startups are totally worth US$10-12 billion. According to a statement by Rajan Anandan, President, TiE Delhi-NCR, the 10 unicorns centred in Delhi NCR, namely Oyo Rooms, Paytm, Delhivery, Hike, Rivigo, Zomato, Policybazaar, Snapdeal, ReNew Power and Paytm Mall, are not from one particular sector, but are from across sectors such as fintech, eCommerce, logistics, food, energy, and so on.
In his statement, Niti Aayog Chief Executive Officer Amitabh Kant, who released the report, said that vibrant hubs need to be created to act as catalysts of change. He assured of the government’s support to the startup ecosystem and setting up of incubation centres. Kant highlighted that six Indian cities — Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune — are among the top-100 start-up hubs in the world.
In order to sustain the momentum of growth, the report made a few recommendations. The primary one being to build world-class affordable startup hubs, increase seed and early-stage investment and improve the quality of incubators/ accelerators. Developing tech and entrepreneurial talent also needs to be encouraged to further enhance the capabilities that drive growth.
Further, the report recommended prioritizing 10 sectors, detailing sector-specific initiatives while highlighting relevant stakeholders that would help to accelerate the growth of the startup economy.