India added more than 2250 startups to its economy in the year 2021, including 43 unicorns (startups valued at over USD 1 billion). This is 600 more than the number the country achieved in 2020, as per a report recently released by Nasscom and Zinnov.
The report titled “Indian Tech Start-up Ecosystem: Year of The Titans” hailed the Indian startups saying that it raised over USD 24.1 billion in 2021. 2021 saw startups securing thrice the number of valuable deals (counted as above USD 100 million) than it did in 2020. This is a testimony of investor confidence which boasted of over 2400 angel investors and the increasing appetite to take financial risks.
This was twice the investment they secured when compared with the pre-COVID era. With the middle and lower middle class growing steadily, coupled with expanding last-mile internet connections, startup band wagoning Internet of Things (IoT) revolution, an improve in confidence of investors, and a talented and untapped demography, the startup industry saw a sustained growth in its finances and consumer base, the report noted.
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The cumulative valuation of the startup ecosystem increased twice to USD 320-330 billion from 2020, demonstrating the resilience of the Indian business ecosystem in the pandemic year. Further, more than USD 6 billion has been raised by 11 startups via Initial Public Offerings (IPOs), such as Zomato and Nykaa.
“The performance of the Indian startup ecosystem in 2021 has proved the resilience and dedication being put by multiple startups across segments,” said Nasscom President Debjani Ghosh. More than 2/3rd of the startups are based out of Delhi-NCR, Bangalore, Chennai, Pune, Hyderabad and Mumbai. The rest are located in tier-2 cities such as Kolkata, Chandigarh, Kochi and Jaipur, the report noted. India added a record 43 unicorns, with a total valuation of over USD 92 billion across, which was the third number boasted by any country after the U.S and China.
Total investments which flowed in Indian startups in 2021 is more than USD 38 billion, which is over USD 11 billion invested in 2020, as per report by Fintrackr, a database which provides financial performance of startups and unicorns Bangalore saw USD 18.6 billion venture capitalist investments for 2021, says a report by Dealroom, a global database to identify and track promising companies.
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48,093 startups recognized by the Indian government provide employment opportunities to over 5,49,842 individuals. About 1.7 lakh jobs were created by recognized startups in the 2020/21 financial year, as per Commerce Ministry release. In the last decade, the startup ecosystem has created 6.6 lakh direct jobs and 34 lakhs indirect jobs, as per a report by Swarajya.
