August 4, 2022
The first 10,000 startups were recognised within a span of 808 days
The recent 10,000 were recognized in 156 days
49% of India’s startups belong to the country’s Tier II and Tier III areas
Every day, 80 startups are being recognized across the country
India is currently home to 75,000 startups in the 75th year of its Independence, according to Commerce and Industry minister Piyush Goyal.
About 49% of startups are based out of Tier II and Tier III areas. The first 10,000 startups were recognised within a span of 808 days, and the recent 10,000 were recognized in 156 days, added the Minister.
Every day, 80 startups are being recognized across the country, which is the highest global rate. No wonder, the country aspires to be the largest startup ecosystem in the world.
Out of the total recognized start-ups, around 12% cater to IT services, 9% to healthcare and life sciences, 7% to education, 5% to professional and commercial services, and 5% to agriculture.
The minister also mentioned that over 740,000 jobs have been created by the Indian start-up ecosystem so far, which has been subject to a yearly increase of 110% over the last six years.
Attracting interest
The Indian startup ecosystem has seen an increase in funding and interest from venture capitalists and angel investors across the globe. Approximately 90 startup investment companies, including those in the Venture Capital (VC), Private Equity (PE), micro venture capital, angel investment, and debt sectors, have already established or are in the process of establishing funding plans according to data by Fintrackr. Overall funding for India’s startups in the second quarter was pegged at US$ 6.9 billion.
The data further mentioned that 63 VC firms, eight PE firms, and four debt firms have expressed interest in developing investment plans for India’s startup space. India registered 105 unicorns as of July 19, 2022, with a combined valuation of US$ 338.50 billion. With the most unicorn headquarters, Bengaluru is the unicorn capital of India, followed by Mumbai and Delhi (NCR). A strong wave of unconventional sectors, including content, gaming, hospitality, data management & analytics, are making their way onto the list despite the fact that traditional sectors like e-commerce, fin-tech, supply chain & logistics, and internet software & services still dominate the market.
Way forward
The government on the other hand, in its efforts to catalyse startup culture and build a strong and inclusive ecosystem for innovation and entrepreneurship in India, launched its ‘Startup India’ initiative on January 16, 2016.
However, fewer Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) were launched in the first half of this year, compared to the same period in 2021. According to Axis Capital, 16 IPOs were launched out of the 67 applicants received by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Last year, there were 24 IPOs registered between January and June.
Despite this bump in the road, there is huge potential in the overall growth story of India’s startup ecosystem. According to the economic survey, startups in India have grown remarkably over the last six years. The number of new recognised startups has increased to over 14,000 in 2021-22 from only 733 in 2016-17.
With increased participation from funding parties, and after witnessing more milestones, India’s agenda to become the world’s largest startup ecosystem can be realised sooner than expected.