National Startup Day: Indian startups' 2023 performance report

Money business is not an easy business. Whether it is raising capital or paying bills, startups strive to make money every day. So far, India has 1,12,718 startups from various sectors such as IT services, healthcare, agriculture, education, etc.

According to a report by TheKredible, around 980 startups raised a whopping $11 billion of venture capital in 2023. When it comes to equity funding, startups in India attracted $6 billion. However, these numbers alone do not portray the astonishing accomplishments made by startups.

So, on National Startup Day, let's look at the top achievements of Indian startups last year!

National Startup Day 2024

In 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi commenced the Startup India initiative to build a solid ecosystem by fostering innovation and supporting Indian startups that will drive the country's economic growth and employment opportunities.

National Startup Day is celebrated to inspire growth, and innovation and promote the Indian startup ecosystem by connecting entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and startup enthusiasts.

Since this flagship initiative was launched on 16th January 2016, it has been officially declared as the National Startup Day since 2022. Unlike last year, there is no official theme for the event. In 2023, the theme was "Founders of Today, Leaders of Tomorrow."

Key milestones of Indian startups in 2023

Space startups skyrocket

A decade ago, there was only one Indian space startup.

The private space industry has been flourishing. Ever since the space sector opened its arms to private entities and passed the Indian Space Policy in 2023, hundreds of new startups entered the market. In a report by Deloitte consultancy, there are around 190 Indian space startups which is double compared to 2022.

Union Minister Jitendra Singh revealed that last year Indian space startups attracted more than Rs 1,000 crore in private investments. He also added the country's space economy has the potential to reach $100 billion by 2040.

In January last year, Microsoft signed an MoU with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to empower space tech startups with technology tools, mentoring and help them scale. The most notable space startups that received millions of dollars in funding have been AgniKul Cosmos, Skyroot Aerospace, Pixxel, and GalaxEye Space.

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SME IPO listing surge

In the first three quarters of 2023, India recorded around 149 IPO listings. A study by EY revealed that India emerged as a global leader in the number of IPOs year-to-date last year. By the end of 2023, around 179 small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) IPOs were listed.

Out of them, approximately, 135 SME IPOs managed to raise over Rs 3,500 crore. There is no denying that the SME sector has been a crucial part of many economies to create jobs and drive innovation and growth.

Deep tech investments and AI growth

Despite facing a funding crunch in the tech sector mirroring the global trends, deep tech and AI startups accelerated. According to the Nasscom-Zinnov report, deep tech startups bagged more than $500 million in funding and a similar trend is expected in 2024. Apart from that, 70% of startup founders are intending to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into their solutions.

World's 3rd largest unicorn producer

Last year, Zepto was the first and only startup that attained unicorn status. This was quite low compared to 2022 where 22 Indian startups became unicorns with $29.20 billion of total valuation. Even so, research by Journalistic Org reveals, that India is the 3rd largest unicorn producer globally after the USA and China. In total, India is home to 72 unicorns which contributes to 5% of the global unicorn valuation.

The road ahead

Indian startups have always faced various challenges when it comes to funding but have still emerged as key players in the market. With a positive outlook of better funding rounds coupled with high interest in consumer investment leading to many IPO listings, we hope that Indian startups will make many milestones along the way this year!