How promising is the Indian Startup Ecosystem, a question that is asked in almost every technology event, be it a conference, a workshop or a trade fair. The answer, I must say, is much more than a monosyllabic word. With 3,100 startups and 800 more every year, India is the 4th largest country after the US and China.

India is well positioned as a startup country in the light of other famous startup scenes such as the US, Israel, Singapore. India’s startup ecosystem has been interacting and collaborating actively with the ecosystems of the aforementioned countries and these synergies have contributed significantly to India’s economy, which currently has a GDP of $2.59 Tn.

ndian Startup Ecosystem: Growth Drivers and Opportunities

Growth in terms of numbers Even though India experienced a brief slowdown in 2016–17, India’s start-up ecosystem is again set for a blooming phase, post-2017. Investments into start-ups have increased by over 100 percent, from $2.0 Bn in 2017 to $4.2 Bn in 2018.

The total number of start-up funding deals especially in the late stages (Series C, D, E, and F) witnessed an unprecedented growth of around 250%, from $847 million in 2017 to $3.0 billion in 2018. Even though the amount of seed stage funding raised stood at $151 million, the larger number of late-stage deals rose sharply, which signifies a renewed investor confidence in the Indian start-up ecosystem.

New players in the startup fray Indian unicorns in the B2C space continue to garner global funds. Many of the newer players are expanding their horizons to other markets stirring up the competitive landscape. Creating a benchmark in the global start-up ecosystem, the year 2018 saw an addition of as many as 8 Unicorns, the highest in a single calendar year.

With the vision of build in India, built for the world, India saw more than 400 cross border start-ups in the year 2018. The disruptive innovation in technology and process is creating newer Indian start-ups and foreign investors are showing immense interest in these start-ups. This has also led to the creation of than 40,000 new Direct Job opportunities and another 4–5 lakhs Indirect Jobs. This takes the total Direct Job base to 1.6–1.7 lakhs.  

Scope and Characteristics of the Indian Market

Growing at an average of 50% year-on-year, most advanced tech start-ups focused on creating solutions in segments like Artificial Intelligence, Analytics, Augmented Reality/Virtual reality, Blockchain and Internet of Things. Startups in these new segments have witnessed a momentous growth in 2018; increase in internet penetration, better infrastructure for digital transactions, Govt.

push on financial inclusion and innovative tech accelerating the pace of payments, lending & digital banking being primary drivers for growth.

You must not miss out on the implementation of artificial intelligence, which is also becoming a norm, growing at 5-year CAGR of 54–58%, witnessing over 120% growth in funding for AI Start-ups ($150 Mn invested in 2018). Also, Blockchain start-ups have seen a significant inflow of funding ($2 -$11 million USD), growing over 500% year-on-year.  

New opportunities for growth, new jobs on the radar In the coming years, we will see as many as 2,000 new startups. Job creation from these entrepreneurs will go up from 65-75k as of today to 250-300k by 2020. New job roles like data engineer, data analyst, data science analyst, will be very much in demand. The Indian subcontinent which is showing significant signs of growth has also witnessed city-wise growth in the years to follow.

The top 6 cities are trusting 90% of the technology scene. Bengaluru and the New Delhi area account for almost 28% and 24% of the startups in India Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune, and Chennai are following in tows. Want to add something? Do you have a story to tell? We would love to hear. Comment below.