Indian cities rise in global start-up ranks

New Delhi: Several Indian ecosystems have risen in the global start-up ecosystem rankings, most notably Delhi, according to a report. Delhi is 11 places higher than in 2021, entering the top 30 for the first time at 26, says a report by Startup Genome, a policy advisory and research organization for public and private organizations. Bengaluru held on to its record trend of attracting technology investments and other cities such as Mumbai and Delhi and hubs such as Telangana and Kerala are also making a mark on the global startup ecosystems charts, according to new research released at London Tech Week 2022 on Tuesday. Research from Dealroom.Co for London & Partners – London's business growth agency, showed that Bengaluru is the leading Asian city and fifth-ranked hub in the world for tech venture capital (VC) investment in 2022.

"India has seen a rapid rise in the number of large exits and early-stage rounds, and a substantial increase in Ecosystem Value."

"The nation produced 44 unicorns in 2021 and exits rose to $14 billion — a 10-fold increase over 2020. Delhi and Mumbai joined Bangalore in the top 40," the report said.

"It's fantastic to see startup growth across the whole of India as this creates lots of opportunities for collaboration with London," said Hemin Bharucha, Director of India for London & Partners.

On the other hand, China's ecosystems suffered a decline in the ranking. The performance of Chinese startup hubs is declining for the first time since the global startup ecosystem ranking report has been published. Eight of the 13 cities studied fell in this year's rankings. "China, is experiencing the impact of government regulation. In 2021, Beijing cracked down on companies over issues including anti-competitiveness and data privacy. Global investors suffered when the Chinese government went after its Edtech industry in July, and it raised constraints on overseas IPOs in December, the report said.

Beijing has dropped one place, with Boston taking its former place at 4. Silicon Valley has been ranked 1, followed by New York City and London tied at 2, Boston at 4, and Beijing at 5. But China remains a startup powerhouse — venture investment in 2021 rocketed above $130 billion, according to Bloomberg, says the report.

The investment research revealed that in the first five months of this year (January to May) Bengaluru's tech firms have raised USD 7.5 billion in VC funding, considerably higher than the previous record of USD 5.2 billion during the first six months of 2021.

According to London & Partners, the UK capital is the number one European city for Indian companies looking to expand outside of their home market and second after Dubai for the number of foreign direct investment projects from India in the past five years.

"This research demonstrates that London and Bengaluru are not just the leading startup hubs in Europe and Asia but they are also competitive on the global stage," Bharucha added.

The 'Global Startup Ecosystem' report highlighted Bengaluru's formidable status as the tech capital of India, with an ecosystem value of USD 105 billion — higher than Singapore (USD 89 billion) and Tokyo (USD 62 billion).

London Tech Week is the UK's flagship technology event, attracting over 20,000 global government and corporate leaders, inspirational startup founders, senior investors, and tech rising stars together to discuss the power of technology for societies.