LinkedIn has unveiled its list of the Rising Indian Startups of 2025 - and guess who's claimed the crown yet again? Zepto has held firm to its No.1 spot, outpacing the competition with unstoppable momentum.
Interestingly, with 83 per cent of entrepreneurs being first-generation founders, the list reflects India's growing spirit of entrepreneurship and leadership.
Let's work flat out and create a policy framework that fosters the growth of Indian non-family business VC and private equity firms. This will allow our Indian startups' dreams to flourish, explains Ajit Balakrishnan.
Naukri.com-parent Info Edge, whose long-term bets on Indian startups ranging from Zomato to Policybazaar yielded blockbuster returns, has been named the country's most successful venture investor, cementing its reputation as a standout player in India's startup ecosystem. The firm, helmed by Sanjeev Bikhchandani - often referred to as India's Warren Buffett- invested a total capital of Rs 3,959.16 crore across platforms over the last one and a half decades.
For the startup ecosystem in India, the scorecard so far has been a mixed bag, observes Akhil Gupta.
The recovering valuations, will lead to enhanced optimism among investors about funding startups.
'The startup ecosystem, the government, and the owners of large pools of Indian capital need to actively support the creation of these local champions, not pull down the teams that are trying hard to get there.'
From the launch of the 'Startup India' initiative in 2016, to the abolition of angel tax and easing of reverse flipping norms, the startup ecosystem is evolving.
Isn't there something significant in the UPI example for all of us to learn from and execute to enable world-scale success for our startups?, asks Ajit Balakrishnan.
The global billionaires list witnessed as many as 94 new entrants from India, stated a report by Hurun India on Tuesday. Following a net addition of 84, the country's billionaire tally touched 271 with their combined wealth at $1 trillion, noted the report. Mukesh Ambani, chairman & managing director of Reliance Industries, is the only Indian to make it into the top 10 of the Hurun Global Rich List 2024, a ranking of billionaires in US dollar terms.
Women account for 35 per cent of the 860,000 people employed in startups in 2022, compared to 19 per cent in the corporate sector.
Startups in India need low-cost debt for working capital, which is impossible to get.
At the heart of Paytm's slide lies the abject failure of its Super App strategy, notes Indrajit Gupta.
Bootstrapping has put Nithin Kamath of Zerodha in a position where he can trifle with talk about valuation, points out Suveen Sinha.
Funding for Indian startups dropped by 33 per cent to $24 billion in 2022 as compared to the previous year though it was nearly double the amount recorded in 2019 or 2020, said a PwC India report on Wednesday. Global investors were still positive about the Indian startup ecosystem despite the global slowdown, as per the report titled 'Startup Tracker-CY 22'. "Funding for Indian startups in CY22 was nearly $24 billion, a drop of 33 per cent in comparison to CY21 but was still more than twice the funds raised in CY20 and CY19 each", it said.
Noting that the number of unicorns in India has reached the 100-mark this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that even in the phase of the Covid pandemic, Indian startups have been creating wealth and value with entrepreneurs emerging from smaller cities and towns as well. In his monthly 'Mann ki Baat' radio broadcast, the prime minister said that on the fifth of this month the number of unicorns in India reached the 100-mark. "The total valuation of these unicorns is more than USD 330 billion, that is, more than 25 lakh crore rupees. "Certainly, this is a matter of pride for every Indian," he said.
'Yesterday, I was at a seed meeting where we gave outright grants up to Rs 20 lakhs or loans up to Rs 50 lakhs for new start-ups under 2 years.'
These unicorns, or startups valued at over USD 1 billion, are across industries, beyond technology and tech-enabled sectors as well, like pharmaceuticals, and consumer goods, Credit Suisse India equity strategist Neelkanth Mishra told reporters in Mumbai.
From Twitter to Facebook to Spotify, everyone it seems is clambering aboard the social audio bandwagon. Neha Alawadhi reports.
Cook further said that Apple would like to place retail stores in India and is working with the government to seek approval to do that.
Facebook has been working to boost its mobile technology as it focuses on growing revenue from its mobile advertising business.
If all goes well, from December, drones can be used for purpose like mapping, surveying and photography, which till now was illegal due to absence of any guidelines.
The Budget session of Parliament is all set for a stormy start on Tuesday with major opposition parties planning to corner the government.
He also said that the prime minister had failed to live up to his promise to create two crore jobs every year.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the India-US Startup Konnect and share his vision on 'Start up India, Stand up India' as part of his US visit later this month.
To meet this week on representation to HRD ministry for degree granting power, autonomy.
For India startups, pulling in the reins now may enable them to live longer - even if it means shedding their unicorn status, says Una Galani.
Flipkart eyes another $500 mn from eBay, which seeks to merge India ops with it and exit business
Infrastructure for all-IP next-generation, wireless broadband infrastructure across all the 29 states in India is being laid, says Mukesh.
Before India tries to leverage its soft power to increase its standing in the world, Tharoor said first there is need to fix the problem at the domestic front.
Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah on Saturday attacked Rahul Gandhi after the Congress vice president questioned the NDA government's achievements, saying it was no mean feat that even the opposition has been unable to level any corruption charges against it.
Corporates understand that the PMO drives all key decisions in this government.
For 2016, India's rank in ease of doing business has improved.
'Jobs will exist at very high levels or low levels of skill sets.' 'People, who are in middle level jobs, are the ones who are facing the problem as such jobs are fast disappearing because of technological advancement.'
Mukesh Ambani said the Digital India initiative has the potential to transform the lives of 1.2 billion Indians using the power of digital technology.
'I am a human being, I was surely nervous, I am competing against a lot of people, but even when I played cricket there is not a single match where I was not nervous.' 'Lots of mothers, lots of sisters are so sure that no matter what happens, Sree will stand by them.' 'I will go to any length to help people.' 'If it is important to save somebody I will save him even if I have to die.'
Practo is an online health service platform which assists patients to meet the best doctors and keeps digital records.
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