1000 new startups join Indian startup ecosystem in 2017: NASSCOM

Over 1000 tech startups were incorporated in India in 2017, as per a recent NASSCOM-Zinnov report. Almost 50% of the startups incepted in 2017 were in the B2B segment. This takes the total number of tech startups in India to 5000-5200.

The NASSCOM-Zinnov report, titled ‘Indian Startup Ecosystem – Traversing the maturity cycle’was released on the sidelines of the of the annual flagship NASSCOM Product Conclave 2017.It stated that currently, the country is witnessing a rise in the B2B tech startup landscape, focussed on verticals like healthtech, fintech, and ecommerce/aggregators. Apart from this, currently over 450 student startups, are being driven by academic incubators.

Speaking on the occasion, R Chandrashekhar, President, NASSCOM, said, “ Findings of the report are a testimony to the potential of the startup landscape and the scope of growth and opportunity that India presents. NASSCOM will continue its drive towards catalysing deep tech start-ups, build category leaders and support start-ups to create for India.”

The report also stated, while Bengaluru, Delhi/NCR, and Mumbai retained their position as the key startup hubs, 20% of the startups emerged from tier II/III cities.

NASSCOM report - Key findings

1. The Indian startup ecosystem witnessed a growth of 167% to $ 6.4 bn in H1-2017. Out of these the average funding for B2B tech startups in 2017 witnessed an increase of 5% while B2C tech startup average funding saw a decline of 10%.
2. H1-2017 saw about 50+ M&A deals, indicating a growth of 25% since H1-2016. Apart from this over 325 startups emerging, with YoY growth of 18%, are focussing on social challenges in the areas of healthcare and education.
3. With 40% of startups in the B2B (business-to-business) segment, B2B’s share in the overall tech startup funding is about over 30%. With over 60% startups, the B2C tech startup segment secured close to 70% of the overall tech startup funding in H1 2017. Leading verticals in the B2C segment are travel and hospitality, foodtech, fintech, and healthtech.
4. Corporates are playing a vital role in promoting startups in the country. The report enumerates that currently there are over 50+ collaboration programmes, 20+ corporate accelerators (recording a 33% YoY growth), and 30-40 active corporate investors in the Indian startup ecosystem.
5. Fintech startups witnessed a 31% YoY growth and increased to 360 startups. The fintech startups received about $200 million funding in the first-half of 2017, an increase of 135% since H1-2016. Led by demonetisation, sub-segments of the fintech sector like digital payments and lending are maturing. Also, 33% of the fintech funding was towards advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Analytics.
6. Healthtech startups, on the other hand, witnessed a 28% YoY growth in 2017, with an estimated total base of 320 startups. The healthtech vertical secured a total funding of $160 million in H1-2017, and an increase of 129% since H1-2016. Continuing the trend, 31% of the healthtech funding was procured by Artificial Intelligence, IoT, and Analytics startups.

The report also stated that India has the highest proportion of digital talent - 76%, compared to the global average of 56%. Banking on the talent pool, NASSCOM committed to catalyse and support deep-tech Startups, and help build category leaders that can create solutions for India.