India's largest startup ecosystem? This city is No. 1, Small businesses valuation hits $50-billion mark

Delhi-NCR is currently home to over 7,000 startups according to a 'Turbocharging Delhi-NCR Start-up Ecosystem’ report released by TiE Delhi-NCR. The report further says that NCR is also home to 10 unicorns, with at least 1 new unicorn emerging each year since 2013. These factors, along with the cumulative private market valuation of start-ups currently worth USD 50 billion, make Delhi-NCR the largest start-up ecosystem in the country.

The report was released in partnership with Zinnov, focused on developing an in-depth understanding of the Startup ecosystem in Delhi-NCR and identifying the most important actions that need to be taken to turbocharge the startup ecosystem in NCR. The study was supported by Cisco, Microsoft, Google, Softbank, Intuit and Uber.

Speaking about the study, Pari Natarajan, CEO, Zinnov, said, “Delhi-NCR has the potential to lead innovation in many sectors across the Indian economy. We have identified 10 sectors including consumer internet, consumer products, travel and hospitality, food and foodtech, next generation ecommerce, logistics, education and edutech, and mobility and electric vehicles. NCR has a unique opportunity to become a magnet for startups building in each of these sectors by developing market shaping policies and launching programs in these sectors”

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Rajan Anandan, President of TiE Delhi-NCR, added “NCR’s startup ecosystem has incredible momentum. Despite the progress so far, we believe we are still in Day One. With concerted focus on the most important areas, NCR has the potential to become a Top 5 Global hub for startups, lead innovation across many sectors, create many more startups and have at least 30 unicorns in NCR by 2025”

To capitalize on the potential, several proactive actions are recommended to turbocharge the ecosystem in Delhi-NCR. A trifecta of measures – including focusing on different sectors where NCR can build true leadership, developing programs and policies in each of these sectors, strengthening core infrastructure and the talent pool, and placing a major focus on improving Seed and early stage funding in NCR.