With the expansion of start-up culture throughout the country, not only has this sector gained immense traction but also has had help from the government. Just recently, the finance minister has exempted the ‘angel tax’ for start-ups, helping them to boost their performances and services, without worrying much about taxation.
Reports have fled in discovering that Delhi NCR has emerged as the largest startup ecosystem in the country with 7000 startups between 2009-2019 and 10 unicorns witnessed in this region alone. Initially Bangalore was assumed to have this title but the way startup concentration is getting denser in Delhi NCR region, has more to speak.
Delhi NCR Holds the Highest Number of Startups
Like we mentioned, the region houses around 7000 startups in the country. When compared to other cities in India, the cumulative private market valuation of the startups in Delhi NCR currently stands at approximately $50 billion, followed by Bangalore which hovers between $32-37 billion and Mumbai being a distant third at around $12 billion.
Since 2013, Delhi has been adding at least one unicorn in the startup sector from its region, obviously leading the pact in the number of unicorns and around 70% of these unicorns are B2C companies. The report also highlights that three of the most valuable listed internet companies are in Delhi NCR.
These three companies are
- Info Edge with a market capitalisation of $3670 million
- MakeMyTrip with a market capitalisation of $2420 million
- IndiaMart with a market capitalisation of $490 million
In fact, Justdial, with a market cap of $640 million is the only company to have made this list not coming from the same Delhi NCR region.
Striding in the Correct Direction
Looking at these reports, the CEO of Niti Aayog was surprised too because he, like most of us was under the impression that Bangalore and Hyderabad were more vibrant regions in terms of startup expansions. However, the reports show otherwise that Delhi NCR region has a huge opportunity to offer.
In order to control and manage growth of the startup ecosystem, it is believed and accepted that there will always be need of early stage funding, more angel investors in Delhi NCR, outcome driven programmes to boost tech talent and creating more affordable co-working spaces.
NCR has the potential to become the top global hub for startups, leading innovation, creating more startups and at least 30 unicorns in NCR by 2025. Today, however this region makes up a healthy mix in start-ups from different sectors, like fintech, foodtech, logistics, hospitality, e-commerce and energy.