Delhi is not making news only for recording the highest number of cases of COVID-19 but has also seen the highest number of new start-ups across the country during January-June. The surge in the start-ups has been primarily on the back of its digital ecosystem, government support, and infrastructure, including start-up accelerators, incubators, and enablers.
According to the data released by Tracxn, a total of 109 startups were founded in Delhi-NCR, followed by Bengaluru (63) and Mumbai (44). Edtech, fintech, and enterprises are the three sectors that saw more traction with several start-ups also repurposing their solutions to offer COVID-related solutions.
Delhi might have topped the chart in terms of the number of startups but it is Bengaluru who has garnered maximum funding. Startups in Bengaluru have raised $2,436 million in the first half of 2020, while Delhi has raised $602 million. Mumbai retained its position with $397 million.
The new start-ups from the national capital offer various solutions from a different domain. The list includes Fashinza.com which is a fashion-focussed website, ramjagenosensor.com develops smart sensors for the detection of bacterial infection and antibiotic resistance. Meanwhile, Marvey.app is a cloud-based productivity app, while Owo.in is an app-based platform offering water-based in Gurugram. Reezy.in is an online reward-based rental payment software.
Park Plus is another app headquartered in Delhi offering QR-based contactless parking solutions. Interestingly, it has already raised $11 million this year, in a round co-led by Sequoia India and Matrix Partners India. The application is riding high, with Delhi being the biggest car market in India.
“For us, Delhi is a great fit for our business both from the market as well as talent perspective,” said Amit Lakhotia, CEO and Founder, Park Plus.
Meanwhile, Bengaluru saw an agritech startup, farmtheory.in. Apart from this, there is a social platform, mitron.tv that showcases short videos during this period. Interestingly, they are raising funding during the coronavirus pandemic.
As per analysts, the propagation of startups in Delhi-NCR is on account of a bigger market base because of the area spread that comprises of Delhi, Noida and Gurugram. This matches Bengaluru on investor ecosystem support, along with Delhi being the policy hub as well.
TiE report 2019 reported that NCR was home to more than 7000 startups. In fact, the national capital region has produced about 13 unicorns including PayTM, Oyo, and Zomato, with at least one new unicorn emerging each year since 2013.
But not all have success stories. Elate Well-being, that focuses on premium well-being services was launched in January but had to shut the operations in March due to the lockdown. However, they managed to bounce back with online services. It is currently offering more than 20 short-duration online programs for physical and mental well-being.
“The NCR population is tech-savvy and were able to readily transition to online services during the lockdown phase,” said Ashutosh Pandey, founder of Elate.
Moreover, other young startup founders have the same sentiments about Delhi. For instance, High Street Essentials’ co-founders, Tanvi Malik and Shivani Poddar, who have launched fashion brands for women such as FabAlley and Indya said, “Delhi NCR is home to a throng of angel investors, family offices, and investor networks that help the start-up community with early-stage funding, crucial to scaling and optimising in the first few years of a start-up’s life cycle.”
TiE report shows that Delhi-NCR has the potential to be one of the top five global start-up hubs, with 12,000 startups, 30 unicorns, and a cumulative valuation of about $150 billion by 2025.
Further fuelling the sentiment, the TiE report had suggested that Delhi-NCR has the potential to become one of the top five global start-up hubs, backed by the suitable government and private sector interventions. By 2025, Delhi would be home to 12,000 startups, 30 unicorns, and a cumulative valuation of about $150 billion.
