Bengaluru leads in the number of startups led by women
Bengaluru, the capital of Karnataka, hosts 1,783 startups led by women, leading the tally, followed by Mumbai and Delhi with 1,480 and 1,195, respectively, as per data from startup data platform Tracxn. Noida, Kolkata, and Ahmedabad secured the eighth, ninth, and tenth positions with 324, 184, and 181 women-led startups respectively. India's startup ecosystem, comprising over 61,400 startups, has significantly strengthened its position, emerging as the third-largest hub worldwide after the United States and China.
Bengaluru stands out as a leading startup ecosystem in India, fostering an environment conducive to entrepreneurial risk-taking due to supportive policies. Despite this, there remains a significant gender gap. Various initiatives such as incubation programs, grants, and fellowships specifically aimed at women-founded startups are striving to bridge this divide. Karnataka, for instance, stands as the pioneer state in offering a grant-in-aid of Rs 50 lakh to support early-stage funding for innovators launching startups without demanding equity in return. This program has notably highlighted women entrepreneurs, resulting in 30% of the recipients being women founders.
Zomato, Byju’s, Ofbusiness, Upstox, Lenskart, and Open are among Tracxn's list of the top 10 women-led startups in India. The funding scenario for companies led by women saw a remarkable increase in the number of funding rounds, rising from 171 in 2014 to 460 in 2022. However, in 2023, there was a notable drop in the number of funding rounds to 185, with funding into women-led startups decreasing from 183 in 2014 to just 7 in the current year. Data reveals that between 2008 and 2018, there were a total of 14 women-led unicorns. Bengaluru-based neobank Open achieved the milestone of becoming the 100th unicorn, with two women Co-founders, including its COO, Mabel Chacko and CFO, Deena Jacob. Nykaa, Mamaearth, Hasura, Pristyn Care, OfBusiness, Mobikwik, The Good Glamm Group, and Livspace are other Indian unicorns with at least one female Co-founder.
