Blog

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday (May 2) lauded Indian entrepreneurs, saying the Indian startup ecosystem had grown by leaps and bounds in the past few years.

He said, “In 2014, the country had around 400 startups. Today, there are 68,000 startups and many of them have gone on to emerge as unicorns too.”

PM Modi further added, “Several dozens of these startups have become unicorns…I can proudly say that numerous unicorns have gone on to become decacorns too.”

Prime Minister Modi made the comments while addressing a gathering of the Indian diaspora in Germany’s Berlin. He arrived in Germany on May 2 as part of the first-leg of his three-nation trip to Europe.

PM Modi also said, “A new India has emerged that does not merely think of a secure future, but rather takes risks and innovates.”

This comes close on the heels of the PM saying that startups were the backbone of new India in January this year. Union Minister Piyush Goyal on April 28 had also urged Indian founders to incorporate and list their startups in India, and not move to tax havens.

Back to the story, PM’s statement comes on the same day as India minted its 100th unicorn on Monday. Bengaluru-based neobanking startup Open raised $50 Mn in a funding round led by IIFL. 

In a record-breaking calendar year for Indian tech, startups raised about $42 Bn across 1,579 deals in 2021, leading to a unicorn spree. According to the Inc42 unicorn tracker, India’s 100 unicorns have a cumulative valuation of $333 Bn, with Flipkart and BYJU’S being the two highest valued privately-held startups with a valuation of $37.6 Bn and $21 Bn respectively.