"IT IS NOT LIKE THERE IS JUST ONE SILICON VALLEY IN INDIA"

With increasing access to angel networks and incubators across India, Venture Catalysts Co-founder Apoorva Ranjan Sharma says the country would have nearly a million start-ups and more than 500 unicorns by 2030 

- ASHISH RUKHAIYAR

START-UPS HAVE the potential to contribute as much as 15 per cent to the India’s GDP by 2030, according to Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, Co-founder of Venture Catalysts,which is one of the largest angel networks in the country. Sharma says that states are excited about start-ups because they see the ecosystem as an opportunity to create another layer of manufacturing and services over the already existing ones. Edited excerpts:

How has the start-up ecosystem evolved in India in the past few years? Are start-ups coming up across the country or are they concentrated in just a few cities and states?

India has around 130,000 start-ups as on date and the rate at which they are growing, the number will be over 1 million by 2030. According to the government and DPIIT (Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade) data, India has around 800 districts and there are start-ups in nearly 670 of them. So, it is clear that the start-up ecosystem of our country is not concentrated in some regions, even though the bulk of the ventures are in cities like Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi-NCR. It is not like there is just one Silicon Valley in India. There would be more than 25 cities and towns where there would be a significant number of start-ups.