Pune’s startup ecosystem has received close to INR 69 billion (~USD1 billion) in funding between 2014 and 2018
KPMG in India report: Pune 2:0 – The Startup Hub
Mumbai, 06 June 2019: India’s start-up narrative has largely been dictated by cities such as Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi. While these continue to be large startup hubs, other cities such as Pune, Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Bhubaneswar are fast emerging as epicentres for new age entrepreneurs. Of these, Pune deserves a special mention due to the seismic shift witnessed in its startup landscape. Over the past five years, the startup scenario in the city has changed dramatically, in terms of issues, challenges and opportunities.
From a few handful of startups in 2014, Pune has come a long way to cater to over 3,200 active startups in 2018.This is according to a KPMG in India report: Pune 2:0- The Startup Hub which was released by the honorable Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis.
The growth in the number of startups, we are now seeing in Pune has been possible only due to the broad spectrum of new age technologies that is cutting through several sectors such as financial services, agriculture, education, healthcare and life sciences, automobiles and manufacturing, etc.
Access to high quality educational institutions, growth in the number of co-working platforms, availability of high-skilled talent and liberal government policies have helped Pune become one of India’s up and coming startup hubs with a robust startup infrastructure.
Initiatives such as Maharashtra State Innovative Startup Policy 2018’ and Fintech Policy’ and the established ‘Pune Idea Factory Foundation (PIFF) are today paving the way and helping out startups with their requirements in Pune. It must be noted that Pune’s startup ecosystem has received close to INR 69 billion (~USD1 billion) in funding between 2014 and 2018.
Commenting on the report, Pradeep Udhas, Office Managing Partner, West, and KPMG in India said “Pune has emerged as one of the most promising startup destinations in the country. This is because of multiple factors which work in its favor, large number of universities which provide great skilled workforce, in depth expertise available due to huge presence of automotive companies. The presence of major IT firms in and venture capital funds also making it very appealing.”
Below are the key highlights of the report:
- 2nd largest city in Maharashtra after Mumbai
- Pune cater to over 3,200 active startups
- India is the 3rd largest start-up base globally
- 11.4 per cent of the state GDP was contributed by the city in 2017
- Educational hub of India known as Oxford of the East and home more than 811 colleges
- Our Key Recommendations:
- Skill enhancement and training of entrepreneurs
- Develop COEs / clusters across themes such as blockchain, IoT, machine learning, AI, healthtech, edtech, etc. – similar to the electronics cluster in Pune.
- Create a government backed Fund of Fund (FoF) to provide early seed financing for startups.
