National Startup Day 2025: How nine years of policies shaped India’s startup ecosystem

Indian startups have come a long way since the inception of the Startup India initiative, which celebrates nine years this year. The flagship programme aims to create a supportive environment for entrepreneurial ventures while highlighting the crucial role startups play in economic development and job creation.

According to a report by Longhouse Consulting, as of June 2024, India has over 140,000 officially recognised startups, making it the third-largest startup ecosystem in the world. These startups have created over 1.5 million direct jobs, with 900,000 added in the last five years. Indian unicorns have a combined valuation of $350 billion and have raised over $100 billion in capital.

Highlighting the government’s contribution, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to social media platform X. “From tech-driven solutions to rural innovations, healthcare advancements to biotech breakthroughs, Fintech to EdTech, clean energy to sustainable technology, Indian startups are solving global challenges while at the same time creating employment opportunities and boosting our quest towards self-reliance,” he said.



The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) data shows the IT services sector leading job creation with 2.04 lakh jobs, followed by healthcare and life sciences with 1.47 lakh jobs, and professional and commercial services with nearly 94,000 jobs.

Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal, in a social media post, noted that 2,583 startups have received financial support under the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme. Additionally, 3,606 startups have been granted Certificates of Eligibility, providing them with a three-year tax exemption.

Modi further emphasised the government’s efforts, stating, “As far as the Government is concerned, we have left no stone unturned to encourage a culture of StartUps. Our policies have focused on ‘Ease of Doing Business’ greater access to resources and, most importantly, supporting them at every juncture. We are actively promoting innovation and incubation centres so that our youngsters become risk-takers. I have personally been regularly interacting with upcoming StartUps.”