Startup ecosystem India: Founding and funding patterns 1990-2017

Abstract

The tech startup ecosystem in India is now the third largest in the world, after the United States and China ( NASSCOM-Zinnov,2018). By some accounts, it is growing 12-15% per year (NASSCOM-Zinnov, 2018). In 2017, Bangalore was assessed the most dynamic city in the world by the World Economic Forum. And yet, research on Indian startups is inchoate, and relies largely on anecdotal (Aldrich, 2003; Bae, 2014), qualitative (Aggarwal, 2015; Chen, 2009), and survey data (Lyons, 2018), or focuses on funded firms (Joshi, 2018). Hence, much of the teaching and practice of entrepreneurship in India relies heavily on research and practice in the U.S. context. However, it is unclear whether and to what extent, these theories are applicable to the Indian context, where the level of market, capital, supplier, and regulatory uncertainty is higher. Even more challenging, reliable economy-wide figures on the size and growth of Indian startups across time and sectors is unavailable.