India sees a 4-year decline in the number of new start-ups

Year 2019 saw start-ups receive a major boost after the government announced incentives, including new incubators and relief from angel tax. But those did not seem to be enough to encourage more entrepreneurs to venture into the start-up ecosystem in India.

According to data from Tracxn, a firm that tracks investments and financials of private companies and start-ups, the number of companies founded in 2019 was only 5,462 – 35 per cent down from 2018 – the lowest since 2011. Furthermore, this number has been falling since 2016, the year the government launched the Startup India scheme, an initiative to catalyse and encourage innovation and entrepreneurship in India. The drop in the number of new entrants is observed across sectors, ranging from fintech to retail to enterprise applications.