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India’s startup ecosystem has reached a combined valuation of more than $400 billion in roughly a decade, outpacing the growth timeline of the country’s IT services industry, according to The Lift-Off Nation: Why We Are Entering the Golden Age of Indian Startups, a new book by Rajan Anandan and Saurabh Srivastava.
Published by Juggernaut Books, the book argues that India is entering a new phase of entrepreneurship, driven by experienced founders, innovation across industries, increased venture capital availability and government support for emerging businesses.
Anandan, managing director at Peak XV Partners and former head of Google India and Southeast Asia, co-authored the book with Srivastava, a co-founder of NASSCOM, TiE and the Indian Angel Network. Their analysis draws on more than 180 interviews with founders, business leaders, investors, policymakers and academics.
The authors identify five factors behind India's startup growth. These include a growing pool of experienced entrepreneurs, innovation across multiple sectors, an increasing focus on global markets, improved access to capital and government initiatives supporting business creation.
Companies such as Flipkart, InMobi and Zoho have helped develop a generation of entrepreneurs with experience in building and scaling businesses. Many former employees of successful startups and global technology companies are now launching ventures of their own.
Innovation is also expanding beyond consumer internet businesses into healthcare, financial services, artificial intelligence (AI), semiconductors and space technology. According to the book, 40% of seed-funded startups established in 2025 were building for international markets from the outset.
The authors also point to the expansion of venture capital and the growing number of startup initial public offerings (IPOs). Public listings provide investors with additional exit opportunities, potentially encouraging further investment in emerging companies.
Government initiatives have played a role in this expansion, with digital public infrastructure such as Aadhaar and the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) helping businesses develop and scale services. The opening of sectors such as space and defence to private companies has also created opportunities for startups.
The book highlights India’s space technology sector as an example. It says the country now has more than 400 space-tech startups, six years after the sector opened to private participation in 2020.
However, the authors warn that research and development (R&D) remains a major challenge. India spends approximately 0.65% of its gross domestic product on R&D, compared with 2.6% in China and 3.5% in the United States, according to figures cited in the book. They argue that India needs to increase R&D spending to at least 3% of GDP to strengthen its global competitiveness.
The authors identify the Anusandhan National Research Foundation and the ₹1 lakh crore Research Development and Innovation Fund as initiatives that could help address the country's research funding gap.
Anandan said India’s innovation ecosystem was entering a significant growth phase, with opportunities for Indian companies to develop products for both domestic and international markets.
Srivastava said entrepreneurship would be central to achieving the country’s Viksit Bharat vision for 2047, arguing that startups could help reshape India’s economic trajectory.
Published by Juggernaut Books, the book argues that India is entering a new phase of entrepreneurship, driven by experienced founders, innovation across industries, increased venture capital availability and government support for emerging businesses.
Anandan, managing director at Peak XV Partners and former head of Google India and Southeast Asia, co-authored the book with Srivastava, a co-founder of NASSCOM, TiE and the Indian Angel Network. Their analysis draws on more than 180 interviews with founders, business leaders, investors, policymakers and academics.
The authors identify five factors behind India's startup growth. These include a growing pool of experienced entrepreneurs, innovation across multiple sectors, an increasing focus on global markets, improved access to capital and government initiatives supporting business creation.
Companies such as Flipkart, InMobi and Zoho have helped develop a generation of entrepreneurs with experience in building and scaling businesses. Many former employees of successful startups and global technology companies are now launching ventures of their own.
Innovation is also expanding beyond consumer internet businesses into healthcare, financial services, artificial intelligence (AI), semiconductors and space technology. According to the book, 40% of seed-funded startups established in 2025 were building for international markets from the outset.
The authors also point to the expansion of venture capital and the growing number of startup initial public offerings (IPOs). Public listings provide investors with additional exit opportunities, potentially encouraging further investment in emerging companies.
Government initiatives have played a role in this expansion, with digital public infrastructure such as Aadhaar and the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) helping businesses develop and scale services. The opening of sectors such as space and defence to private companies has also created opportunities for startups.
The book highlights India’s space technology sector as an example. It says the country now has more than 400 space-tech startups, six years after the sector opened to private participation in 2020.
However, the authors warn that research and development (R&D) remains a major challenge. India spends approximately 0.65% of its gross domestic product on R&D, compared with 2.6% in China and 3.5% in the United States, according to figures cited in the book. They argue that India needs to increase R&D spending to at least 3% of GDP to strengthen its global competitiveness.
The authors identify the Anusandhan National Research Foundation and the ₹1 lakh crore Research Development and Innovation Fund as initiatives that could help address the country's research funding gap.
Anandan said India’s innovation ecosystem was entering a significant growth phase, with opportunities for Indian companies to develop products for both domestic and international markets.
Srivastava said entrepreneurship would be central to achieving the country’s Viksit Bharat vision for 2047, arguing that startups could help reshape India’s economic trajectory.
