Known as the silicon valley of India, Bengaluru, is home to several IT companies. The city, famous for its IT hub, is also crowned as the startup hub of India. Many successful Indian startups were born in Bengaluru giving it a befitting name. But how did the city emerge as a cradle for global tech startups?
Highlights:
- The story of Bengaluru as a startup hub.Â
- Strong talent and cutting-edge technology favor the culture.Â
- Bengaluru is among the world’s top five startup investment hubs.
Bengaluru is known for its IT companies for several years. The city aptly called the silicon valley of India boasts of being the home of over 67000 registered IT companies. Currently, Bengaluru has another feather in its hat and is known as the startup hub of India with over 7500 registered startups.Â
With twenty of the top 500 companies based in Bengaluru, the city is an arch-rival of Mumbai, housing 13 companies out of 500. Despite losing the title as the startup capital of India, Bangalore has retained its high growth crown nabbing $17bn in funding for start-ups in 2019-21. A solid educational and tech foundation from local universities and IT industries appealed to the startups to thrive in Bangalore.Â
A mecca for startups:
Several factors favor the success of startup culture in Bengaluru. In the last two decades, the enormous success of startups helped the city establish itself as the startup hub of the country. Big names like Flipkart, BigBasket, Zoomcar, Myntra, Practo, and HackerEarth stemmed from Bangalore paving the way for other startups.Â
Due to its thriving software companies, Bengaluru provides a conducive environment for emerging startups. Recognized on a global scale as the silicon valley, here are the driving factors supporting the startup wave:Â
- Talent density: Abhimanyu Saxena, Scaler’s co-founder, says that the talent pool in Bangalore is so high. The large and talented engineer community helps the emerging tech companies with access to global-scale engineers.Â
- Crib of cutting-edge technology: New enterprises developing products in healthcare, education, information technology, and retail cement the reputation of Bengaluru as a startup hub. The products churned out are solid examples of cutting-edge technology favoring the boom.Â
- The startup success story: According to the World Startup Report, 41% of all new ventures launched in India, are accredited to Bengaluru. Unicorns based in Bengaluru, such as Flipkart, Byjus, Ola, Swiggy, and Quikr, inspire new venture capitals to turn their head toward Bangalore.
- Entrepreneur rich: With a high concentration of entrepreneurs, Bengaluru attracts investors to invest in budding companies. Furthermore, the tech giants find it profitable to relocate to the city for growth and opportunities.
World’s top five startup investment hubs:
In 2022, Bengaluru, has been ranked fifth in the world for tech venture capital investments. According to a report from Startup Genome, launched at London Tech Week 2022, startups based in Bengaluru received $7.2bn in funding between January and May 2022. Bangalore was the top Asian city behind Silicon Valley, London, Greater Boston, and New York. Compared to the $5.2bn in the first half of 2021, Bangalore-based startups raised $5.7bn in the first quarter of 2022.Â
Bengaluru is rightly considered the startup hub of India, with its acquired characteristics fueling the venture-capital boom. However, the rapid urban development has transformed the city into a concrete jungle. Meanwhile, this considered a downside to the massive advancement in information and technology.
