Union Minister Jitendra Singh said on Friday India Highlighting the revolutionary developments in science, technology and creativity in the country, it ranks third internationally in start-up ecosystem and number of unicorns.
Participating in an event in Delhi, Singh said that the decade 2021-2030 will bring transformative reforms in Indian science, technology and innovation. He said that India’s Gross Expenditure on Research and Development (GERD) has more than tripled in the last few years.
According to the most recent data, there are currently 105 unicorns, of which 44 were born in 2021 and 19 in the current year. The data also showed that the country has over 5 lakh R&D employees, an increase of 40-50% over the past eight years.
Explaining the current scenario, the Union Minister further said: “With shifted global powers and technology becoming a hub of international engagement and rule-making, India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi meeting global standards.”
Singh also mentioned the fact that 75,000 start-ups are now based in India, as the country is celebrating 75 years of independence, ever since PM Modi launched Startup India in 2015.
Continuing that note, the Union Minister said that the PM’s special emphasis on science, technology and innovation has inspired the creativity of the youth of the country to develop with new ideas and solve problems.
He said that start-ups in India are not limited to metros or big cities, Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities account for 49% of all start-ups, which are blooming in domains like IT, Agriculture, Aviation, Education, Energy . , health and space.
Singh also pointed to the fact that the country is ranked among the top 5 in the world for scientific research, is one of the top five countries for space exploration and is actively involved in developing technologies such as quantum technologies and artificial intelligence. is included.
According to the Union Minister, the country has increased its global rating on the Global Innovation Index (GII) from 81st in 2015 to 46th among 130 economies across the world in 2021.
startup ecosystem
According to the data available in the Startup India portal between January 2016 and December 2020, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade has recognized over 41,000 start-ups in India.
There are over 590 districts with at least one recognized start-up and 30 states as well as union territories having a dedicated start-up policy.
During the same time frame, start-ups have also reported over 4 lakh jobs.
The data also revealed that over Rs 4,500 crore was invested in 384 start-ups through the Fund of Funds scheme and 319 eligible start-ups have been exempted under 80-IAC of the Income Tax Act.
According to Vineet Budki, Managing Partner and CEO, Cypher Capital, while the start-up ecosystem was initially driven by Indian founders coming back to the country from abroad to set up such companies, the innovation engine has now changed. “We are seeing the emergence of local founders as well as start-ups from across the country. Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities have also become hub of start-ups recently,” he said.
“In the next few months, global macro conditions may make it difficult to raise funds, but they are the right time to build start-ups. And in times like these, strong resilient founders who innovate are cut off from those who join in to seize the opportunity,” Budaki said.
Regarding this ecosystem, Satish Shukla, Co-founder, Addverb Technologies, told News18: “For the past few years, there has been an influx of over-funding, VCs and other forms of funding. Profitability is not being considered as a key metric.”
“There has been an influx of liquidity to various sectors. This may be due to the fear of missing out or because of different views in a particular area. Also, many people are becoming entrepreneurs after considerable work experience and instituting mature practices and processes,” he said.
Meanwhile, Anuj Parekh, co-founder and CEO of HealthySure, said that despite the fact that investors are focusing more on fundamentals, which has resulted in slowdown in funding for growth and mature stage start-ups, early stage The sentiment for and early growth by Series B companies are overly optimistic.
Explaining, Parekh said: “The world saw the rise of truly revolutionary start-ups from developed economies after the last 2008 financial crisis. Only in times of uncertainties, has the world seen some truly game-changing companies. Airbnb, Uber are some great examples.”
“The world is passing through a similar transition and looking at the early stage funding in India, there are bound to be gems that are truly revolutionary for the entire world,” he said.
Additionally, Parekh said that India is already at the forefront of fintech and ed-tech in the world, and he believes it will be surprising if Indian start-ups really transform other sectors in the coming years. Won’t happen.
unicorns of india
According to a recent analysis by investment firm Iron Pillar, India is projected to produce more than 250 unicorns, or privately held firms with $1 billion or more, by 2025.
Similarly, another analysis by Hurun Research Institute has predicted that India will be home to 122 new unicorns in the next two-four years and they will belong to 25 cities across the country.
According to the data, as of July 19 this year, there are 105 unicorns in India – start-ups valued at over $1 billion in valuation – with a total valuation of $338.50 billion.
Talking about unicorns, Budaki said that some unicorns like Ola and Lenskart are expanding globally and experimenting with new ideas, while some other unicorns still struggle to grow and achieve profitability. are doing.
He further added that the production of unicorns in India improves the confidence of young entrepreneurs and also gives them necessary advice from successful founders.
“We have seen this happen in Silicon Valley where old founders groom new ones and we will see the same happen in India. Cities like Bangalore have already become a hub for founders and will soon spread to more cities,” Budaki said.
Parekh said that unicorns not only benefit start-ups but also help in creating a strong business as well as technology environment and have favorable tailwinds to foster high skilled employment prospects.
“I personally hope that this will stop the brain drain. Allied industries also become more mature which includes services as well as manufacturing. Unicorns are now being seen as a status symbol to attract even bigger investments. I see it,” he said.
More important according to him is the fact that the solutions these startups are promoting along with building the Indian economy are exported all over the world.
Shukla believes that there will be a lot of focus on the B2B sector and with the advent of 5G, there will be a search for industrial automation and software focus. Also, according to him, the experience of entrepreneurs will bring maturity in the system.
Talking about Unicorn, the industry expert also said: “One journey entrepreneurs follow. First, they are entrepreneurs, then they start investing in other start-ups so that they can become VCs. This will create highly skilled employment and steady job creation.”
However, according to him: “Just having a unicorn will not be enough; The main focus will be profitability. ,
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