India, which is among the top largest economies of the world today, is witnessing a continuous rise in its startup ecosystem such that we are now home to over 100 unicorns. A unicorn is a privately held startup with a value of over $1 billion.
Not only is the number of startups in the country is on the rise, but the valuation of India’s startup ecosystem has risen to nearly Rs 3 lakh crore or Rs 3 trillion, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Saturday.
Goyal was speaking here at an interaction with students, faculty and alumni of Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), National Institute of Design (NID) and others.
“…the fact that we are probably 110-plus unicorns, about 75 or so soonicorns which are on their way to become unicorns, is truly a remarkable achievement. The last time we did a valuation of our startup ecosystem, it came to about $368 billion, that’s nearly three lakh crore rupees,” the minister said.
Goyal added that there are over 80,000 startups in the country registered with the Industry Ministry. “We have about over a million people directly engaged by them. Must be many million more who are indirectly involved in the entire startup ecosystem. Over 110 unicorns,” he noted.
Further, talking about the various initiatives taken by the government to promote the startups, the commerce minister underscored that the Centre is also strengthening the patent offices and everything is going to be online.
He was replying to a query on what is being done to boost the startup ecosystem, among others.
It is worth mentioning that India recently became the third country in the world after China and the US to have crossed the milestone of 100 unicorns. In this year itself (till May 2022), the country has produced 14 unicorns – startups valued at a billion-dollar or more.
