India is the nation of ‘people-abundance’ that presents a huge opportunity for us to leverage its potential for driving stronger economic progress. The last 5-7 years - especially the post pandemic era – have been the years of rapid innovation, leading to the emergence of numerous sustainable businesses.
But the question remains: Are we fully harnessing this potential?
Let’s go back in time
Centuries ago, India was at the heart of global trade. By the 1700s, we contributed nearly 24% to the world’s GDP, with cities like Surat, Calcutta and Madras serving as thriving trade hubs connecting Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. The East India Company, which began as a trading enterprise, controlled nearly 50% of global trade in textiles, spices and more. By the mid-19th century, it governed 60% of Indian territory, as per reports.
History is proof that our nation has always been a land of innovation, commerce and global influence.
Fast-forward to 2025, when the “Fifth Industrial Revolution” has begun to make inroads
Many of the world’s most iconic companies began as humble startups, driven by visionary entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs, Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. Closer to home, brands like Flipkart, Paytm, PhonePe and Ola have made a significant mark, transforming industries and lives.
In 2024, Indian startups raised over $12 billion in fresh funding, a strong 20% jump compared to the $10 billion secured in 2023, as per reports. This growth reflects the increasing investor confidence in the ecosystem.
The year also saw over 1,000 funding deals, an 11% rise from the previous year, highlighting the steady momentum in the startup space. These numbers signal a promising trend for innovation and growth across sectors. Today, the ecosystem collectively stands tall with 1,50,000+ startups in India, making us the third-largest startup hub in the world and it is commendable to see the growth.
National Startup Day 2025 serves as a reminder of the shared goals that bind us as innovators, entrepreneurs and collaborators
While we celebrate diversity in thought and execution, it’s critical to align on a common purpose: to make India a global hub for innovation. This "One Nation, One POV" mindset ensures that all stakeholders within the ecosystem—government, startups, investors and academia— focus on collaborative action to seamlessly achieve shared outcomes. For instance, private skilling players like upGrad joining forces with global tech giant Microsoft to train 1 million STEM Indian learners sets strong precedence on the global forum that India is moving closer to its ambition of becoming an AI-first nation. However, we need plenty more such partnerships to empower a million households with the right kind of skills and opportunities to become ‘Viksit Bharat’.
Furthermore, to promote collaborative action, the government is also playing a key role by partnering with the tech ecosystem, enabling private players to grow through initiatives like Startup India, launched in 2016. To support the growth of the startup ecosystem, they’re creating a holistic environment that helps startups innovate and scale. Key reforms such as reduced compliance burdens, improved ease of doing business and the abolition of the ‘Angel tax’ have significantly bolstered this expansion.
Government e Marketplace portal – launched in 2016, has played a transformative role by integrating startups into major government and public sector projects. With nearly 27,000 startups registered - facilitated public procurements exceeding $120Bn as per reports, it has become the world’s second-largest government procurement platform.
Not to miss, it is interesting to see that non-metros make up for the larger innovation hotspots - where real tangible ideas incubate and reach/scale for delivering the output. On the other hand, metros provide that balance with mid-large organisations and businesses integrating & consolidating for the right purpose.
The rising Entrepreneurial trend could also be seen with the lens of India Inc upskilling and reskilling - a very strong attribute of commitment and perseverance signalling steady growth. For instance, over 60,000 learners signed up for upGrad’s Digital Marketing courses in the last 2 years - both free and paid. This is also indicative of the fact that individuals across India are looking to learn new skills to be better equipped to start up their own ventures. The new India that we envision will be leading employment generation and this kind of time commitment and adoption of online learning will only make it grow stronger.
Hence, India is indeed well positioned to leverage its human capital and collaborative spirit to build a nation that knows no boundaries. Just two weeks into 2025, we’ve already seen some commendable moves—new-age startups forging government collaborations, driving stronger output for their consumers, gunning for fresh IPOs, securing seed funding - all of this, setting the right tone for the progress that lies ahead.
(The author is Co-Founder at upGrad.)
