HerStory’s Funding Report: The State of Women’s Entrepreneurship in India
With the growing number of unicorns in the Indian startup ecosystem and the ever-growing number of startups being founded in India, what do women-led startups actually look like? What is their funding landscape? Where do they stand?
The start of 2020 was right out of a dystopian novel. However, by the time we came to the end of 2021 humanity had managed to show its resilience and grit. Within a span of 24 months, the world had seen sheer grit and perseverance of Indian entrepreneurs. In fact, it won’t be a stretch at all to say that over the next five years India could potentially become the second most powerful startup ecosystem in the world.
India’s growth story and its potential remain a strong bet, with a thriving innovation-led entrepreneurial ecosystem led by women entrepreneurs of the country. The year 2021 saw a unicorn gold rush with 45 startups making their way to the $1 billion valuation raising a total of $66.76 billion and in the two months of 2022, we already have close to 10 unicorns.
The total number of unicorns in India is now at 100, at a valuation of almost $220 billion and four of them are led by women – Priyanka Gill, Co-founder of ; Upasana Taku, Co-founder and COO of ; Ruchi Kalra, Co-founder and CFO of ; and Ruchi Deepak, Co-founder, .
This is without doubt a phenomenal feat that has been achieved by women-led Indian startups, to put the country on the global map. Everyone is sitting up and taking notice now, which wasn’t the case till about a decade back. But despite these positives, women led startups seem to be plateauing at an abysmal number, when it comes to funding raised.
According to YourStory Research data, the number of new startups founded by women has dropped by 66.67 percent from 2018. Even with Falguni Nayar’s startup showcasing a stellar IPO opening, women led startups still have a long way to go.
Our findings show that a lot needs to be done to change the narrative in favour of women founders. This includes breaking down social biases, ensuring liquidity, as well as bringing in more women in leadership roles within organisations, and expanding the talent pool. A key takeaway from conversations with women founders indicates that a mix of several nuanced aspects can potentially increase the chances of women succeeding.
The HerStory report on State of Women Entrepreneurship and Funding in India lays focus on the growth in the number of women tech entrepreneurs in India, the amount of capital infused into startups founded and co-founded by women tech entrepreneurs, lack of diversity in funding and more. It analyses data for a three-year-period between 2018 - 2021 with additional data from 2022.
The analysis is primarily based on:
- Startup funding deals with at least one woman founder
- Publicly disclosed deals
- Founders based in India
- Use of technology to power business
- Further data based on YourStory and HerStory interviews with women leaders and other ecosystem stakeholders
Edited by Ramarko Sengupta