Startup Ecosystem Beyond Tier 1 Cities

Indian startup at a glance

• 23 Indian startups have achieved unicorn status in 2022 H1, out of the total 109 recognized unicorns in India
• The number of DPIIT-recognized startups has increased from ~470 in 2016 to ~75K in total by 2022 (data till August) with a CAGR of ~133%
• VC/PE funds invested US$ 33.3B in CY22 H1 across 1,076 deals in India on an overall level, the same for cities beyond Tier 1 stood at US$ 14.5B across 238 deals

Startup ecosystem of cities beyond Tier 1

• Enterprise Tech, Retail Tech, and Health Tech are the top 3 sectors by number of startups beyond Tier 1 cities
• Enterprise Tech & Retail and Retail Tech are the top sectors in cities beyond Tier 1¹ by deal count
• Retail and Retail Tech & BFSI and FinTech are top sectors by funding amount
• The top ten emerging hubs² in cities beyond Tier 1 in India are Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Coimbatore, Indore, Jaipur,
  Kochi, Lucknow, Surat, Thiruvananthapuram, & Vadodara

Key success parameters and case studies

• In the emerging hubs beyond Tier 1 cities, a total of ~14K startups have been added in the past decade, with 2020 seeing the highest number of registered startups at ~2K
• The emerging hubs beyond Tier 1 cities are performing well on most of the parameters like literacy, GDP, ease of doing business index, business environment, etc. which are important for startups to scale
• On the international front, cities beyond Tier 1 are emerging as global hubs, support startups by providing tax rebates, funding, and mentoring support to the startups