The Startup Ecosystem of India

India has 38 cities in the top 1000 and is one of the leading startup hubs in South Asia.

COUNTRY RANKING

Since 2023, India lost 2 spots in the Global Startup Ecosystem Index, having now positioned itself as 21st worldwide.

Population

1417.2
Million

Regional Ranking

1st
0
In South Asia

Global Ranking

21st
-
2
Worldwide

Ecosystem

Startup Ecosystem Overview

high-rise buildings during daytime
India is a country of great potential considering its population size and cost effectiveness in business operations. The country has established itself as a world leader in technology services and enjoyed a boom in unicorns over the past few years. India’s growth trajectory in the startup scene is truly impressive and can be attributed mainly to its domestic market size and huge IT industry. The country’s startup ecosystems are a growth engine for its economy and have the capacity to improve India’s productivity and transform the country beyond recognition.


The talent of Indian entrepreneurs can be seen in the prominence of CEOs running companies like Alphabet, Adobe, and Microsoft. However, this also shows the massive cost of brain drain, as some of India’s top talent is relocating to the West. The scarcity of high-paying jobs, coupled with India’s infrastructural problems, are contributing to entrepreneurial talent relocating overseas. As higher education in India grew over the past decade, the government recognized the potential of this valuable resource for its economy. In 2019, the government launched the National INNOVATION and STARTUP Policy 2019 for Students and Faculty, providing a regulatory framework for innovation and entrepreneurship in universities.


Apart from brain drain, India faces challenges with its digital infrastructure. Internet speed is low compared to most other countries, and power outages are frequent. The Indian government could take additional steps to improve this critical infrastructure and strengthen its startup ecosystem, as other countries in the region are growing fast.


India’s successful startups and unicorns are focusing on the massive potential of the local market. However, for India to achieve a status of a global tech hub, its startups will have to focus more on regional and global markets.


In recent years, the Indian startup scene has shifted the focus towards digital solutions and fintech, setting aside the previous ecommerce successes of unicorns like Flipkart and BigBasket. The US remains the biggest source of FDI for Indian startups, and investment is mainly flowing into fintech startups working on new banking models, like neobanking.


The ecosystem is backed up by multiple support organizations, including the Alliance of Digital India Foundation. In addition, Startup India, the Government’s flagship startup initiative, as well as Make in India, signal the public sector’s commitment to building regulatory frameworks for the ecosystem. But concerns have been raised about the impact of new policies on the ease of doing business in the country. An example of a strange policy that is sure to do damage to the local ecosystem and chase entrepreneurs away, the recently introduced angel investor tax potentially taxes companies when receiving investments. Considering that India enjoys good ties with most of the world, we are optimistic about its chance to continue to grow and assume a bigger role in the global startup ecosystem. When considering India’s core advantage of an educated, young, English-speaking population, the country’s potential is immense.

Startups

India Top Startup Industries

Edtech icon
Edtech
#8 worldwide

1221 startups

Transportation icon
Transportation
#12 worldwide

519 startups

Ecommerce & Retail icon
Ecommerce & Retail
#15 worldwide

485 startups

Ecosystem HealthCheck

India Ecosystem Health Check

The health check tables allow you to look at the performance India has in each of the parameters that are part of StartupBlink's ranking algorithm. There are five tables, corresponding to the three subscores, the subscore analysis and industry ana...

  • Overperformance
  • Performance equal to global ranking
  • Underperformance
ParameterParameter Global rankParameter rank change since 2022ResultContribution to total scoreRank gain / loss due to parameter
Total Score21-211.982100%0
Quantity Score29-51.91315.97%-2
Sample size of startups50358515.9%3
Sample size of accelerators3-12350%-1
Sample size of coworking spaces2020110%0
Community Score98N/A0.0090.07%0

ECOSYSTEM

Browse the startup ecosystem database of India

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Ecosystem

The Startup Ecosystem in India

Our startup ecosystem map for India includes a sample of 4062 tech companies. We have identified as unicorns 70 startups that have passed the USD 1 billion valuations. Contributing to the vitality of this startup ecosystem are the 5 pantheon member entities.

Global Rank

India is ranked within the top 30 startup ecosystems globally.

Top Industries

India’s startup scene is best represented in Edtech, Transportation, and in Ecommerce & and Retail.

Top Cities for Startups in India - Ranked by StartupBlink
StartupBlink ranks the startup ecosystems of 100 countries and 1,000 cities. Download our latest Global Startup Ecosystem Report.
Rows:
2023 National Rank & Change ▲
2023 National Rank & Change City
search leaderboards icon
Global Rank & ChangeTotal Score
Access subscores for 1000 cities and 100 countries
Quantity Score
Quality ScoreBusiness Score
1st
0
8th
0
64.232
00.00
00.00
00.00
2nd
0
13th
0
44.560
00.00
00.00
00.00
3rd
0
25th
-
8
30.154
00.00
00.00
00.00
4th
0
78th
+
12
8.482
00.00
00.00
00.00
5th
0
89th
+
8
7.946
00.00
00.00
00.00
6th
0
102nd
0
7.118
00.00
00.00
00.00
7th
0
181st
+
31
3.449
00.00
00.00
00.00
8th
0
195th
+
28
3.020
00.00
00.00
00.00
9th
0
239th
+
28
2.049
00.00
00.00
00.00
10th
+
2
371st
-
7
0.930
00.00
00.00
00.00
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Startups

Notable Startups in India
PharmEasy startup icon
PharmEasy
Practo startup icon
Practo
BankBazaar startup icon
BankBazaar

Startups

Successful Edtech startups in India
Cuemath startup icon
Cuemath
Quizizz startup icon
Quizizz
Classplus startup icon
Classplus

Featured Startup Ecosystems

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