Lead Story

Best of the Best

What are the ingredients that go into the perfect brew for a successful start-up? How well-placed are our states and cities to support entrepreneurs? The Outlook Start-Up Outperformers 2023 provides a holistic view of the start-up ecosystem in the country. A lowdown on what to expect in this issue:

Published 6 months ago on Nov 01, 2023 • 2 minutes Read

India has the second highest number of start-ups in the world, making it a player to reckon with in the rapidly growing world of emerging and disruptive businesses. The Outlook Start-Up Outperformers 2023 deep-dives into India’s start-up ecosystem to analyse what works and what does not for its growth-stage start-ups. This issue of Outlook Business highlights the major takeaways from this ranking exercise.

The centrepiece of this special edition is formed by three rankings: growth-stage start-ups, states and cities, based on their performance on various parameters. For start-ups, the focus is on sectors enabled by technology, such as D2C (direct to consumer), ecommerce, edtech, fintech and healthtech, besides three watch-out sectors, namely, cleantech, deeptech and sustainability. Top performers in all these sectors have been profiled in this issue.

This ranking analysis is comprehensive and unique. It looks at both internal factors, that is, functioning and performance of start-ups, as well as external factors, such as enabling environment for businesses to start and thrive. More than 80 individual parameters—some comprising multiple sub-parameters or data points, categorised into 18 parameter categories and spread across three distinct ranking frameworks—make this one of the most exhaustive exercises ever undertaken for this ecosystem.

The analysis was based on cutting-edge, but proven, statistical techniques, such as distributions and ratios at one end and advanced tools like the analytical hierarchy process and multiple linear regression at the other.

A multi-disciplinary team spent months debating every aspect of the ranking methodology and analysis process, while experts from the industry and the academia provide a qualitative analysis and the way ahead. Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar, in an exclusive interview to Outlook Business, expresses confidence in the ability of the Indian start-ups to navigate global challenges. Details of the methodology too have been provided. More on this inside.

Analysis & Ranking

Bhagwan Chowdhry, professor of finance and faculty director, I-Venture@ISB Indian School of Business

Rahul Bharadwaj, founder and principal consultant Ayvole

Bharath N. Padasale, management consultant Accenture

Research & Data Support

Rahul Bharadwaj

Aman Mehta, research manager

Rishabh Mahajan, market research analyst

Mohammed Zeeshan Raza, market research analyst Ayvole

Editorial – Outlook Business

Project Head Nishant, executive editor

Data analysis & representation Nishant, executive editor