Startups Raised $155 Bn Funding In Last 9 Years: DPIIT

Funding for Indian startups has grown exponentially to $155 Bn in 2024 from $8 Bn in 2016, according to the Department for Promotion of Industry and International Trade (DPIIT).

Highlighting the success of the Startup India initiative during a press briefing yesterday (January 10), DPIIT secretary Amardeep Singh Bhatia said that over the last nine years, the number of startups in the country has surged to over 1.58 Lakh from just 400 in 2016, ANI reported.

Of these, 48% of startups are based in Tier II and III cities, signalling that “entrepreneurship is no longer confined to metropolitan hubs,” DPIIT joint secretary Sanjiv Singh reportedly said.

With the aim to ensure that the ecosystem keeps thriving, DPIIT has envisaged establishing a startup in every district of the country by the end of 2025. While startups had a presence in only 120 districts in 2016, they have expanded to 750 districts today.

This comes just days after DPIIT announced that The Indian startup ecosystem had created more than 16 Lakh jobs across the country as of December 25, 2024.

India is currently home to more than 73,000 startups that have at least one women director, according to DPIIT.

Launched in January 2016, the Startup India initiative aims to build a strong homegrown startup ecosystem while nurturing innovation and encouraging investments. Under the initiative, 157,066 startups have been recognised by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) with 759,303 users registering on the portal to date.

In a major boost to India’s manufacturing startup ecosystem, DPIIT  signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with US retail giant Walmart earlier this week.

The partnership is aimed at supporting and empowering startups, along with micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) from Tier II and III cities, Sanjiv Singh, joint secretary at DPIIT, ministry of commerce & industry, said then.