India Emerges as a Global Startup Hub with Over 110 Unicorns in 2024

Supported by a dynamic ecosystem, favorable government policies, increased investment, and a growing talent pool, India pushed forward as a hub for entrepreneurial ventures and a powerful engine for job creation.

India, Startups, Unicorn, Web3

India emerged as the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem in 2024, boasting over 110 unicorns and setting the stage for the country’s transformation into a developed nation by 2047, with startups playing a pivotal role in India’s economic ascent.

In a bid to bolster entrepreneurial spirit and support innovation, India’s finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, abolished the ‘angel tax’ this year. The angel tax treats investments received by startups from external investors as ‘income from other sources’ and levies a 30% taxation on them. Often short of funds, startups tend to lose money as angel tax requires them to share a significant part of the investment towards paying taxes.

“The next five years will be years of unprecedented development and golden moments to realize the dream of a developed India by 2047,” Sitharaman said in February in her interim budget speech.

“For our tech-savvy youth, this will be a golden era. A corpus of rupees one lakh crore (one trillion rupees) will be established with 50-year interest free loan. The corpus will provide long-term financing or refinancing with long tenors and low or nil interest rates,” Sitharaman said.

In a significant development, Google’s (NASDAQ: GOOGL) philanthropic arm, Google.org, announced a $1 million grant to the AI startup Karya, which creates job opportunities in rural areas in exchange for feedback to enhance the language capabilities of local AI models. Karya will also develop a multilingual AI chatbot to assist individuals with digital work.

The funding aims to create AI-driven economic opportunities for low-income communities globally, enabling people to access digital tasks related to artificial intelligence, such as data annotation and language-based AI training.

“In 2024, Web3 startups have thrived in sectors like DeFi (decentralized finance), gaming, and tokenized real-world assets. DeFi platforms such as Uniswap and Aave expanded their offerings, while gaming ecosystems like Axie Infinity 2.0 and The Sandbox enhanced user experiences through better tokenomics,” said Avinash Shekhar, co-founder and chief executive of Pi42, a digital currency derivatives platform.

“Infrastructure-focused projects like Celestia made strides in scalability, attracting developers, and tokenized asset platforms like RealT democratized ownership of real estate and art. Sustainability-focused initiatives like KlimaDAO also gained momentum by integrating blockchain with environmental goals, reflecting the growing alignment of Web3 with real-world impact,” Shekhar told CoinGeek.

Banking assistance for startups

In December, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) announced its partnership with HDFC Bank, India’s largest private sector bank by assets, to empower startups with world-class banking and financial services.

The partnership aims to strengthen the startup ecosystem by offering knowledge-sharing, mentorship, and capacity-building programs to foster innovation and growth. Startups are expected to benefit from customized banking and financial products that cater to their specific requirements, such as working capital, credit access, and cash flow management.

According to Sanjiv Singh, Joint Secretary of Startup India, India’s startup ecosystem is the bedrock of the nation’s innovation-driven economy, and empowering it further will always remain at the top of DPIIT’s agenda.

DPIIT also entered into partnership with Flipkart, an e-commerce company, to strengthen India’s startup ecosystem. Using its $100 million venture fund and the Flipkart Leap and Ventures program, Flipkart will invest in and mentor startups, offering resources for prototype development and global expansion. The partnership will provide startups with access to government resources, including research papers, datasets, and expedited patent applications.

‘1000 active startups’

“In 2024, India’s Web3 ecosystem flourished with over 1,000 active startups, particularly concentrated in Bengaluru (a city in south India). Notable success stories emerged from sectors like fintech, healthcare, and supply chain management, where startups such as Chaincode Consulting leveraged blockchain technology to create innovative solutions around NFT ticketing for Indian Railways,” Sharat Chandra, founder of EmpowerEdge Ventures and a startup enabler, told CoinGeek.

Dhiway, a blockchain startup, is working with Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), an e-commerce organisation, to establish an interoperable distributed ledger network as a scoring repository. Dhiway has reportedly secured $1 million in pre-seed funding from Cornerstone Venture Partners Fund, Sunicon Ventures, and other existing shareholders to support market expansion and scale its product portfolio.

In November, Bharat Web3 Association, which facilitates collaboration between regulatory bodies and the Web3 ecosystem, released a report showcasing over 400 Web3 innovators shaping India’s digital landscape. The BWA report states that blockchain services solutions have emerged as the Web3 vertical, with the highest