New Tidal Forces For India's Startup Economy

INDIA EXITED FY24 strongly with a nominal GDP of $3.7 trillion and is now the fifth-largest economy in the world. It grew at a phenomenal 16 per cent in FY23 (following 18.4 per cent in FY22) in nominal terms, continuing to beat multiple forecasts that growth would slow down post the pandemic recovery.

- Pranav Pai

India remains the only large economy to continue growth at this pace, while the developed world and China have slowed down. At this rate, it is inevitable for the Indian economy to grow into the third largest in terms of GDP globally, and breach the $10 trillion mark over the next 15 years.

India already hosts the third-largest startup ecosystem in the world after the US and China. Analyst reports show that while $136 billion entered the Indian startup ecosystem between 2014 and 2022, this number pales compared to the $837 billion and $2.7 trillion that entered the Chinese and US ecosystems, respectively, during the same period. India now has 110 unicorns, also the third highest globally.

The total value created by the Indian startup ecosystem has crossed $500 billion, and estimates suggest it may reach $1 trillion by 2030. There have been 26 tech IPOS completed already, with at least 23 more having filed and in the pipeline. Over $90 billion has been returned via exits cumulatively across Indian PE-VC just between 2021 and 2023.