The number of tech start-ups in India is expected to grow by 10-12 per cent to over 4,750 start-ups by the end of 2016, according to Nasscom's "Indian start-up ecosystem report 2016". Interestingly, over 1,400 new startups emerged in 2016 denoting that the ecosystem is becoming prudent with both investors and start-up founders focusing on profitability and optimising the overall spend. With this impetus, India will become home to over 10,500 start-ups by 2020, employing over 2,10,000 people, reveals the report.
Amidst the popular belief of a slowdown in India' s start-up segment, India continues to harbor the third largest start-up base, marginally behind the UK.
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 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.
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 per cent of the new incubators.
The report reveals an increased interest from student entrepreneurs this year. A remarkable growth of 25 per cent has been witnessed in 2016 with 350+ start-ups founded by young students. Median age of start-up founders has reduced marginally from 32 years in 2015 to 31 years in 2016.
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.
