India Continues To Be World’s 3rd Largest Startup Hub, Ecosystem To Double By 2020

Amid concerns of slowdown in the Indian startup ecosystem, India continues to rank as the third largest startup base globally, marginally behind the UK as per the Nasscom- Zinnov report titled “Indian Startup Ecosystem Maturing – 2016” launched on Wednesday (26 October). The report further stated that the ecosystem is poised to grow by an impressive 2.2x to reach more than 10,500 startups by 2020.

The report said that the number of startups continued to grow in 2016 with Bengaluru, NCR, and Mumbai leading as the major hubs. In terms of vertical growth, investors are looking at domains like health-tech, fin-tech, and edu-tech. With a total funding of approximately $4 billion, close to 650 startups were funded this year, signifying an aware and healthy growth of the ecosystem.

“The startup landscape in the country is becoming the epitome of innovation, with companies bringing out solutions that are aimed at solving locally relevant issues. Today, India is brimming with new ideas which need the right guidance and funding to be scalable for the market. It’s a great time to be an entrepreneur in India with opportunities abuzz – both globally and in domestic markets,” CP Gurnani, chairman, Nasscom said on the sidelines of the ongoing Nasscom Product Conclave.

According to the report, the number of tech startups in India is expected to grow by 10-12 per cent to over 4,750 startups by the end of 2016. Interestingly over 1,400 new startups have emerged in 2016 denoting that the ecosystem is becoming prudent with both investors and startup founders focusing on profitability and optimising the overall spend. With this impetus, India will become home to over 10,500 startups by 2020, employing over 210,000 people.

Furthermore, the report revealed that incubators and accelerators are playing a substantial role in strengthening the startup community throughout India. With impetus from the government and corporates, there has been a 40 per cent increase in the number of active incubators and accelerators in 2016 with over 140 active incubators, helping entrepreneurs experiment with new ideas by offering them functional expertise and resources.

More than 30 new academic incubators have been established under the government’s “Startup India Stand-up India” initiative this year. With the country showing signs of increased interest in entrepreneurship, tier-2/3 cities have established 66 per cent of the new incubators.

The report also revealed an increase in interest from student entrepreneurs this year marking a growth of 25 per cent year-on-year with 350+ startups founded by young students. The median age of startup founders has reduced marginally from 32 years in 2015 to 31 years in 2016.