The sentiments are high for ventures in verticals like Fintech, Healthtech, Edutech, data analytics, B2B commerce and artificial intelligence
Amidst the popular belief of the Indian startup ecosystem’s slowdown, India continues to harbor the third largest start-up base, marginally behind the UK as per the NASSCOM-ZINNOV start-up report titled “Indian Start-up Ecosystem Maturing – 2016”.
Some of the notable findings of the report include; continued growth in the number of startups in 2016, with Bengaluru, NCR, and Mumbai continue to lead as the major start-up hub for the nation. In terms of vertical growth, investors are looking at domain like health-tech, fin-tech, and edu-tech. With a total funding of approximately USD 4 billion, close to 650 start-ups were funded signifying an aware and healthy growth of the ecosystem.
“Technology start-ups are creating a new identity for India and its technological prowess. They are defining the way the world operates making life better and easier for people and businesses alike,” said R. Chandrashekhar, President, NASSCOM.
Further, according to the report, the number of tech start-ups in India is expected to grow by 10-12% to over 4,750 start-ups by the end of 2016. Interestingly over 1400 new startups have emerged in 2016 denoting that that the ecosystem is becoming prudent with both investors and start-up founders focusing on profitability and optimizing the overall spend. With this impetus, India will become home to over 10,500 start-ups by 2020, employing over 210,000 people reveals the report.
Furthermore, incubators and accelerators are playing a substantial role in strengthening the startup community throughout India. The report highlights the significant rise in number of accelerators to improve startups’ outcomes and provide them with a support that they require. With impetus from Government and Corporates, there is a 40% 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. Over 30 new academic incubators have been established under the Government’s ‘Start-up India Stand-up India’ initiative this year. With the country showing signs of increased interest in entrepreneurship, Tier-II/III cities have established 66% of the new incubators.
Talking about investments, the report states that investors are increasingly looking at opportunities in start-ups in areas other than online retailing. The sentiments are high for ventures in verticals like Fintech, Healthtech, Edutech, data analytics, B2B commerce and artificial intelligence.
The report further states that the ecosystem is poised to grow by an impressive 2.2X to reach more than 10,500 start-ups by the year 2020.