India home to over 61,000 recognised startups, Delhi takes over as startup capital: Economic Survey

Bharti Airtel buys around 25% stake in startup Lavelle Networks

In fact, some of the recently listed startups like Zomato, Policybazaar and Paytm are all headquartered in Delhi-NCR. The top two startup cities house some of the most valued startups in the country like Byjus, Swiggy, Oyo, Ola, PhonePe, Delhivery, OfBusiness, Razorpay and Cars24 among others.

At 11,308, Maharashtra has the highest number of recognised startups in the country. In terms of distribution, the survey said, 555 districts had at least one new startup in 2021 when compared to 121 districts with at least one new startup in 2016-17.

India's startup ecosystem has been cruising on top gear with investors betting big on the India story, pandemic led the shift to digital and the opportunity in the ‘Bharat’ market. Indian startups raised a record 35+ billion dollars in venture capital in the last year as per data from Venture Intelligence.

Also Read: Indian electronics and lifestyle startup files papers for Rs 2,000 crore IPO

2021 has also been a historic year for the Indian startup ecosystem with a record 44 startups hitting billion-dollar valuations entering the coveted 'Unicorn Club’.

India has now overtaken the UK to become the third country with the most number of unicorns after the US and China. The US added 487 unicorns in 2021 while China saw the creation of 301 billion dollar firms in the year.

India's 83 unicorns are valued at $277.77 billion as per the survey, interestingly more than half of them were created in 2021. The trend seems to continue into 2022, January has seen four new startups enter the billion-dollar club which translates to one unicorn a week in the first month of the year.

Also Read: PM Modi announces Jan 16 as ‘National Startup day’, says Indian startups changing rules of the game