Startups raised $9.3bn until mid-Dec amidst pandemic
More than 50 startups are expected to join the 21-unicorn US$73.2 billion club as early as 2022, Ambassador Taranjit Singh Sandhu told a mentoring programme for Indian National Startup Awards 2020 finalists that was co-hosted by the Embassy of India, in partnership with Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) and US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF).
“Entrepreneurial activity has picked up in India. In 2020, India was among the top 50 innovative economies,” Sandhu said in Washington on 5 Jan 2020.
Sandhu expects more than 50 startups might join the unicorn club as early as 2022.
“Today India is the third-largest, startup ecosystem in the world and is home to 21 unicorns valued at US$73.2 billion. By some estimates, more than 50 ‘soonicorn’ startups might join the unicorn club as early as 2022,” he said.
A unicorn is a term to indicate a privately held startup company valued at over USD 1 billion. Soonicorns are startup companies that are good candidates for late-stage investment and have a good possibility of becoming ‘unicorns’.
The Indian startups raised US$9.3 billion until mid-December 2021, according to Sandhu who cited an industry report.
The money raised is a little below 2019 but definitely encouraging, considering the current pandemic. It is because people like you were not averse to taking risks and were not deterred by challenges,”he said.
“People like you continued to think out of the box. People like you put all your efforts in creating a better life around you,” said the envoy.
Rise of Indian IT companies, large talent pool, increased expendable income of Indian middle-class and availability of capital have contributed to the growth of India’s startup ecosystem.
More recently increased usage of smartphones, access to the internet, and recent reforms to push digital finance have given further impetus. There has also been a significant push from the Government through initiatives like Startup India and Digital India, he said.
“Indian startups are steadily evolving into global entities creating business products, and solutions for the global market,” he observed.
“The Bay Area-Silicon Valley is the world’s topmost innovation hub accounting for, I am told, more than a fifth of global venture capital investment. Its success has been hard to replicate elsewhere even with sizeable investments,” said Sandhu, adding that the important ingredient that is often found missing elsewhere is the culture of Silicon Valley.
Three cities – Bengaluru, Mumbai and NCR Delhi – have changed the face of modern India and find a place among the famous Global Startup hubs. Cities like Pune, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Kolkata are counted amongst the emerging startup hubs.
“We need to do more to be counted amongst the ‘superstar hubs’,” said that Ambassador.
The Indian National Startup Awards 2020 program is first in series of startup activities that will be organized in partnership with DPIIT and USISPF. It recognizes and rewards outstanding startups in a variety of different fields.
Mentoring sessions during the Awards featured legal experts with experience in helping startups, industry leaders and venture capitalists who shared their robust experience in developing early growth in the startup process. Participants were able to learn valuable experiences covering the entire lifecycle of the startup process as they heard experiences of CEOs with successful startups as well as experts from the venture capital arena.
Around 150 Indian startups attended the event, said the Indian embassy in a release. #technologies #unicorns #startups #fintechs #banking fiinews.com
