India defies odds in startup space

Cumulative Funding

• 31,000 tech start ups got $70-bn funding during 2019-2023
• Layoffs dominated the startup sector in 2023
• 65% of over 100 start-up founders done moderate hiring last year

New Delhi: Despite facing global challenges in 2023 like valuation issues, few IPOs, regulatory changes and macroeconomic and geo-political trends, India remains the third largest tech start-up ecosystem globally, with over 950 tech startups founded last year, a report showed on Thursday.

The cumulative funding for more than 31,000 tech start ups has exceeded $70 billion (from 2019 to 2023), said the report by Nasscom in collaboration with Zinnov. Despite the news on layoffs dominating the startup sector in 2023, as per the survey of over 100 start-up founders, over 65 per cent of them have done moderate hiring last year, said the report.

“In 2023, despite facing global economic and regulatory challenges, Indian tech startups have prioritised the imperative of enhancing their business fundamentals, driving profitability and growth,” said Debjani Ghosh, President, Nasscom. “The proliferation of tech startups in tier-2 and-3 cities marks the ecosystem’s resilience,” she added.

Navigating 2024, tech startup founders expect to continue the revenue growth path with measured steps focusing on optimising expenditure and maximising profitability for B2B tech startups.

Investments in deeptech will continue an upward trend in 2024. With generative AI (GenAI) acceleration, 70 per cent of start-up founders are embedding artificial intelligence (AI) in their solutions. Pari Natarajan, CEO at Zinnov, said the India startup story is no longer about just scale and innovation but also efficiency and adaptability -- all building blocks of sustainable value.