Andhra’s New Policy Aims To Create 20K Startups, 10 Unicorns In Next Five Years

Giving a further boost to the state’s startup ecosystem, the Andhra Pradesh government has announced the AP Innovation & Startup Policy (4.0) 2024 -2029, aimed at creating 20,000 new startups in the next five years. 

The policy also aims to support the formation of 10 unicorns and 20 soonicorns. 

As per Inc42’s data, India is currently home to 119 unicorns and more than 100 soonicorns.

Currently, Andhra has 6,600 startups out of which 2,400 are registered with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). 

The new policy aims to address challenges of startups and to further seize opportunities in emerging technologies. Additionally, it plans to build 10 centres of excellence (CoEs) across sectors, including AI and machine learning, blockchain and decentralised systems, extended reality (XR), electric vehicle, cybersecurity and Internet of Things (IoT), among others.

At present, the state has six centres of excellence, focussing IoT and AI, rural innovation centre, maritime and shipping, industry 4.0, biotech and medical devices. 

The Andhra government also aims to create 1 Lakh jobs in the startup ecosystem over the next five years. Besides, the state’s key departments will set aside INR 10-20 Cr every year to work with startups spanning across IT, industries and commerce, agriculture and transport departments, among others. 

Andhra’s Boost To Startup Ecosystem:  In 2014, Andhra Pradesh introduced its startup and innovation policy, aimed at boosting the entrepreneurial activity in the state. Interestingly, out of 2,400 DPIIT-recognised startups in Andhra, almost half are led by women. 

Almost 27% of startups in the state operate in IT, followed by agriculture, healthcare and life sciences and education sectors.  To nurture these startups, the state has 46 incubators within nine governmental institutions. 

Andhra Pradesh government is also bolstering its infrastructure as domestic and global semiconductor players are scouting for lands to build their fabrication plants. 

For instance, the state government signed an MoU with Indichip Semiconductors and its venture partner Japan’s Yitoa Micro Technology (YMTL) in January as the latter are planning to set up a Silicon Carbide (SiC) fab facility in Kurnool.  

The state government also said that it will provide full support to the project to strengthen India’s position in the global semiconductor ecosystem. 

In December last year, the state government signed an MoU with tech major Google for AI adoption and to foster startups in the state through Google’s accelerator programmes. 

Focus Areas Of New Startup Policy: In the last five years, Andhra Pradesh has seen emergence of nascent technologies and innovative business products and services. The state is now looking to strengthen its startup ecosystem and position itself as a viable destination for startups and innovation

“The Andhra Pradesh Innovation & Startup Policy 4.0 wishes to not only elaborate the ecosystem setup, but also various support arrangements and funding structures to ensure rapid transformation of the sector in the state,” the policy document said. 

The policy will further focus on connecting entrepreneurs to the domestic and global marketplace, supporting grassroot entrepreneurship, pushing adoption of innovative technologies across sectors and leveraging industrial strength, and raw material availability in the state. 

Besides, the government will set up the “Ratan Tata Innovation Hub” (RTIH) to drive innovation and support startups throughout their evolution. It will run on a hub and spoke model in which the hub will be located in Amravati and five regional centers in different zones of the state will act as spokes. 

India is the third largest startup ecosystem with over 1.61 Lakh startups as of January 31, 2025. The transformation is led by major hubs like Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Delhi-NCR while tier II and III cities are also contributing to the momentum. 

As per Inc42’s State Of Indian Startup Ecosystem Report 2024, between 2014 and H1 2024, the Indian startup ecosystem attracted over $150 Bn in investments, with ecommerce, fintech, and enterprise tech leading the charge. The report also highlights the rising significance of AI and semiconductors that are projected to reach $17 Bn and $150 Bn in market opportunities by 2030.