11,500 startups to come up in India by 2020

As many as 11,500 startups would come up in the country employing over 2,50,000 people by 2020, according to key findings of India Start-up Report 2014 of industry body Nasscom.

Unveiling the findings, Nasscom President R Chandrashekhar said 300 VC/PE (venture capital and private equity) and 225 angel investments deals amounting to over $2 billion had been made in India.

He said over 20 mergers and acquisitions worth $1 billion were done in last three years. As many as 3,100 startups are present in India which is the third largest base in the world, Chandrashekhar said.

Also, 800 plus startups are being set up anually, he told reporters at the  eleventh edition of Nasscom’s annual flagship Product Conclave. Earlier, Nasscom launched its three-day annual flagship Nasscom Product Conclave 2014.

The conclave builds on the fast growing product and startup ecosystem in the country and provides a platform to engage with thought leaders in the product space and discuss issues of common interest, Chandrashekhar said.

It will also discuss issues of network with startups and partners to create a common framework for the future of the product startup ecosystem in India, he said. The event will feature 225 plus international and national speakers and showcase of 120 plus product companies Chandrashekhar said.

The Nasscom top Emerge 10 companies will also be showcased on the sidelines of the conclave, Chandrashekhar said. "These success stories are a mixture of burgeoning product innovations and exciting new solutions."

The growth of the software product industry in recent years has signalled a transformation - in India and across the globe.

With increasing numbers of online active users becoming consumers of e-commerce solutions and related marketplaces, Indian startups are building global digital solutions to capitalise on this rapid growth, he said.

Hyper-growth, capital availability and acquisitions are the leading drivers of the growing startup ecosystem in India, he added. Indian start-ups are well positioned to address the entire Asian market opportunity and also expand beyond the US and European region, Chandrashekhar said.

"The Indian startup ecosystem is rapidly evolving driven by an extremely young, diverse and inclusive entrepreneurial landscape. This is leading to emergence of focused domain solutions for verticals like healthcare, agriculture, and education," he said.

An additional driving force is a four-fold increase in access to capital through venture capitals, angel investment and seed funding is allowing Indian entrepreneurs to work on building tailor-made products for their customers, he added.

Simultaneously, Nasscom needs to work addressing challenges on creating supportive government policies in terms of ease of doing business, tax incentives, participation in government contracts, availability of risk capital, he added.

Nasscom will continue to actively engage with stakeholders across to address these challenges, Chandrashekhar said. "Scaling up, design and growth hacking are the key priority for startups today. On the innovation front, it is imperative to increase collaboration and partnerships for product companies with platform players, IT services, global MNCs and CIOs," Nasscom Product Council Chairman Ravi Gururaj said.

The conclave this year will showcase interesting technologies that are evangelizing the product space and that are poised to become ubiquitous across both the consumer and industrial fabric of our society, he said. 

Image: Trishneet Arora set up his own company, TAC Security Solutions in 2012.