Last 5 years have witnessed a remarkable surge in women-led startups

Proportion of women-led startups have scaled up to 18% in last 5 years

Share of women-led unicorn startups increased from 8% to 17%

The last five years have witnessed a remarkable surge in women-led startups, marking an increase to 18% in India’s dynamic startup landscape.

This encouraging trend is highlighted in the WISER’s Women’s in India’s Startup Ecosystem Report. In 2017, among approximately 6,000 startups in India, 10% were spearheaded by female founders. Fast forward to 2022, the number of startups had grown to 80,000, with the proportion of women-led startups scaling up to 18%.

The report also pointed out a significant development in the emergence of unicorns, with the count rising from 13 in 2017 to 105 in 2022. Notably, the share of women-led unicorn startups increased from 8% to 17% during the same period. A unicorn denotes a startup with a valuation exceeding $1 billion in the venture capital sector.

An impressive array of over 200 startups, including industry giants like Urban Company, Meesho, and Zomato, contributed to the comprehensive insights of the WISER report.

Moreover, the report shed light on the escalating venture capital funding for Indian startups, which escalated from $5.9 billion in 2017 to $21.9 billion in 2022. In line with this growth, the proportion of funding allocated to women-led startups saw a proportional rise from 11% to 20% by 2022.

The report emphasized the progressive dominance of women in leadership roles within startups, distinguishing their 32% managerial presence from the 21% representation within corporate organizations. This underlined the thriving success of startups in contrast to traditional corporate enterprises, showcasing an environment conducive to female leadership and innovation.