An Overview of the Indian Entrepreneurial Ecosystem for Science-based Start-ups

India is the third-largest start-up ecosystem in the world with almost fifty thousand registered start-ups and annual growth of 12-15% (year).  The start-up ecosystem boasts of a vast network of institutional investors, accelerators, and incubators, clustered predominantly in cities with a high urban population and standard of living. Close to 500 start-ups in fields of med-tech, life sciences, biotechnology, deep-tech etc have emerged out of scientific research in cities such as Bengaluru, Pune, Chennai and Hyderabad.

The research innovation sector is evolving, thanks to various government initiatives, research incubators run by academic institutions, private innovation and research parks. Furthermore, large public funding is available for commercialisation of research etc.

Some of the government initiatives are:

Furthermore, there is a strong innovation and incubation ecosystem flourishing at higher education institutions.  University research incubators such as the IIT Madras Research Park support early-stage research start-ups by providing access to infrastructure, mentorship, scale-up strategy and seed-funding. Other institutions such as the Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) have set up Technology Transfer Offices to improve the potential of commercialising internal research projects to viable business models and securing relevant intellectual property rights. etc.