Bengaluru most hospitable to tech startups; NCR next best: ASSOCHAM study

MANGALURU: Bengaluru is host to largest share of technology driven start-ups, followed by Delhi-NCR and Mumbai while Hyderabad and Chennai are also quite popular among techies who are budding entrepreneurs, according to an ASSOCHAM study.

The study done in association with 'Thought Arbitrage' found that in technology driven start-ups, India has moved up to third position with the US occupying the top position with more than 47,000 and UK with over 4,500. India's tech start - ups number around 4,200 up to 2015.

In terms of total number of start-ups, comprising tech and non-tech areas, India again figured among five largest hosts in the world along with China. Number of start-ups in both India and China was 10,000 each. The US is at the number one position among the overall list of 83,000 budding entrepreneurs.

Of the Indian start-ups, riding on the technology, the IT hub Bengaluru was host of 26%, followed by NCR with 23% and Mumbai 17%. In the 'catching up' category fell Hyderabad with 8%, Chennai and Pune with 6% each.
"The disruptive innovation in technology and process is creating newer Indian start-ups and foreign investors including some of well-known venture capital funds are showing immense interest in these start-ups," ASSOCHAM President Sunil Kanoria said.

The awareness that a start-up is a vehicle of rapid growth through technological "disruption" and innovation, has to spread across the economy. "Only then, there can be a true start-up revolution; otherwise if any small traditional business is treated as a start-up then the start-up eco system will never develop properly.

Realisation of this distinction needs to percolate to all strata of the policy making and economy to ensure that a real support system for the start-ups, in terms of technology, hand-holding, funding and rapid growth, can develop properly in the country," the paper noted.

It said synergizing Start up India with Make in India and Digital India has the potential to expand Indian eco system for the new entrepreneurs. The paper suggested tax exemption for research and experimentation to encourage fresh ideas without fear of failure. Suggesting a Stanford University model in various Indian universities, the ASSOCHAM-Thought Arbitrage paper said courses on creation of small businesses should be encouraged in the learning campuses.