From Idea to Innovation: Igniting the Startup Landscape in India

India: 3rd Largest Startup Ecosystem in World

May 19, 2023

On August 15, 2015, as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Independence Day speech, a new vision for the Indian economy was announced. A vision that aimed to tap the entrepreneurial potential of the people of India.

In five months, putting words into action, on January 16, 2016, the Government of India launched the ‘Startup India' programme to build a strong ecosystem for nurturing innovation and startups in the country.

Since then, the startup landscape in India has experienced exponential growth and India has become the third largest startup ecosystem in the world. 

The number of startups in India has grown by over 225 times since the launch of the Startup India programme. As compared to 442 startups in 2016, now the country has 99,371 startups (as on May 14, 2023).

Today, at least one startup is present in each of the 36 States/UTs. India is also home to more than 100 Unicorns and 23 of them emerged in 2022 itself. Furthermore, a total of 8.93 lakh jobs have been created by startups since the launch of the programme (till December 2022).    

The vision articulated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015, has played a pivotal role in propelling India's startup ecosystem to incredible heights, driving economic growth, supporting entrepreneurship, and enabling large-scale employment opportunities.

Source: 99,371 Startups, 442 Startups, YOY Jobs creation data, 107 Unicorns, Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1743 dated 13.02.2023