The jury is no longer out on this one; Bangalore is the most conducive city for tech startups in India. Be it in terms of new companies being incubated, the quantum of funds raised by these entities or the number of successful startups, Bangalore and its startup ecosystem reign as the undisputed champion.

The proof is in the pudding. Reports concluded that the aptly names Silicon Valley of India has recorded more tech-startups founded since 2016 than Mumbai and Delhi combined. The city saw a total of 1,200 tech-startups being added to the list in 2018, alone and had over 7,200- 7,700 registered startups by the end of 2018. Bangalore based startups also top the list in terms of capital raised, having raised more money than Delhi and Mumbai combined since 2016. Bengaluru-based startups raised $30.57 billion since 2010 and it is $20.1 billion in just the past four years.

The city is home to the most number of Indian unicorns with over 14 of them coming out from Banglore out of the total 32 Indian unicorns. Be it Flipkart (now owned by Walmart), Ola, Swiggy, Bigbasket, Byju’s, Zerodha, Razorpay and Udaan, the city’s startup ecosystem has had a positive effect on other ambitious startups in high-growth mode as well. The city also tops the list in terms of number of soonicorns, ie: startups that have the potential to enter the coveted unicorn club in the near future. According to reports, Bangalore has 64 soonicorns out of the total 148 present in the country. Some of the soonicorns in Bangalore include, Meesho, Ninjacart, Dunzo, Zoomcar, Rapido, Licious, and Practo.

Having cemented its position as the city of choice for tech startups in India, Bangalore has also gained solid international repute. The StartupBlink Startup Ecosystem Ranking in 2019 placed Bangalore as the 11th most favorable cities to start a tech startup in the world, moving up from the 21st position it held in 2018, bypassing major cities such as Tokyo, Paris and Hong Kong.

While Bangalore has gained national and international repute as a startup hub over the past few years, it is safe to say that the foundation for the innovation system prevalent in the city was laid various decades ago. Let’s deep dive into the by lanes of history to understand how Bangalore became the entrepreneurial hotspot that it is known as today.

Moving the Clock Back
The bedrock for the development of a regional innovation system is often the “triple helix”, which comprises of university–industry–government and their interactions. Post India’s independence in 1947, the foundation for Bangalore’s first phase of growth was laid down which was primarily driven by public policies initiated by the national government. Gradually, central public sector undertakings (CPSUs), industrial estates for modern small-scale industries, national government-funded public R&D institutions and public & private educational institutions were established in Bangalore. With the “triple helix” model gradually developing Bangalore’s innovation system came in place over a period comprising almost four decades, ranging from the late 1940s to the mid-1980s. This marked the first phase in the evolution of an entrepreneurial ecosystem in Bangalore.

Beginning in the mid-1980s the city inched closer to the second phase of rather smoothly and spontaneously. The turning point was the entry of Texas Instruments and the establishment of various Bangalore-based information technology firms such as Infosys and Wipro one after the other. The introduction of national economic reforms in 1991 and their acceleration since then also played a crucial role since they removed the entry barriers for multinational corporations in the information technology industry. Additionally, initiatives of regional government to strengthen the physical and virtual infrastructure as well as educational institutions, helped Bangalore receive a boost to emerge as an information technology industry cluster, soon compounded by a biotechnology industry cluster, by the late 1990s.

A Hotbed of Innovation & Research
Reroute the journey to become the most coveted startup ecosystem, Bengaluru has been at the forefront of driving the evolution of deep tech and IP development in the country. Bengaluru based deep-tech and life science startups have attracted the most investors due to the vast presence of best-in-class academia and talent. According to reports one in every four companies in the deep tech, health tech, and fintech sectors can raise money in Bengaluru.

The Garden city also houses over 400 R&D centres, and 85 chip designing houses. Around 60 percent of biotechnology companies in India have a base in Bengaluru. While India is one of the top most preferred destinations to set up global capability centres (GCC) accounting for 25-30 percent of Fortune 500 companies, Bengaluru takes the cake here as well with over 34 percent of GCCs located in the city.

A Thriving Metropolis
One of the most millennial friendly city in India, 37 percent of Bangalore’s population falls within the age group 15 to 35 years. This young energy is complimented by a sizeable technical talent pool as it is home to over 100 engineering colleges churning out over 90,000 engineering graduates every year. A financial haven, Bengaluru’s GDP is projected to grow at 8.5 percent until 2035 and it is slated to be one of the fastest-growing cities globally between 2019 and 2035.

Added to this, the city has. In parallel to this has been the policies and the overall encouragement from the state government to promote and showcase Bengaluru as the technology capital.