The number of startups in the country stood at just 350 before 2014, but now it has grown to more than 90,000. In August last year, we crossed the 100-mark for unicorns, adding 23 new ones. In terms of tech startups, India today has the third largest startup ecosystem globally. Only in last year, 1,300 active tech startups were added, pushing their overall number to 25,000-27,000. These figures are impressive.

Over the last few years, startups across the globe have been facing funding crunch, but their Indian counterparts have been delivering reasonably better performance. No doubt, government support and corporate participation, founders and funders alike have contributed a lot to this growth. It is also interesting to note that nowadays, the startup ecosystem in India is not confined to just big cities but spread across smaller cities and towns.

A latest report, however, voices concern over massive job losses in the startup sector. In 2023, till now nearly 2 lakh tech employees have lost job globally, with major tech players still announcing plans to lay off more employees in coming months. In India also, nearly 27,000 startup employees lost their job since the funding winter crept in last year, and nearly 50 startups handed over pink slips to more than 8,000 employees in the first five months into 2023.

While the overall trend is encouraging and the Indian economic conditions - amid grim global data- are looking reasonably stable, with robust business activity and sentiments, it seems the Centre should keep a close eye on the ongoing developments in the country’s startup sector. Indian entrepreneurs have, time and again, proved that they can bounce back, but a helping hand will definitely make their journey easier in this difficult time.

I invite your opinions.