Not everyone wants to be an engineer, doctor, or scientist anymore. Earlier, most people limited themselves to these conventional career paths. But over the last decade, a new wave has emerged; the mindset has shifted.
Today, more and more individuals aspire to be self-employed. They no longer want to work for someone else—they want to build something of their own. And this shift has had a huge impact on the Indian startup ecosystem.
Every year, we’re seeing a massive surge in the number of startups being registered.
But here’s the real question: it’s not about how many get started; it’s about how many survive.
For many, the idea of a startup is just about building an app, giving it a flashy brand, and marketing it. Sure, that may create some initial buzz, but what about the long run?
Let’s take a step back and look at the bigger picture. According to several reports, over 90% of Indian startups are failing. Why is that happening?
The usual answers are: lack of funding, poor marketing, no innovation, team issues, and so on. While these may be valid reasons, they all miss one crucial truth:
Most startups fail because they don’t achieve product–market fit. They fail to solve real-world problems that matter to real people.
One of the biggest traps Indian founders fall into is mimicking Silicon Valley. They see a shiny, successful product overseas and try to recreate the same model here without asking a fundamental question: Does this work for Indian consumers?
Sure, some startups succeed because they are solving global problems. But not everything that works in Palo Alto will work in Pune.
It’s like offering a regional delicacy to someone unfamiliar with it—they might try it once, out of curiosity, but the chances of it becoming a staple in their life? Very rare.
Because it all depends on consumer behaviour, which is deeply cultural, emotional, and contextual.
And even if you do manage to understand that behaviour, you still face another challenge: India’s ground realities.
Consumer patterns, tech penetration, purchasing power, trust, habits, and even language—all of these vary dramatically across regions, cities, and income groups.
If you follow startup news regularly, you’ll notice something interesting. Most of the buzz and funding revolve around fintech, e-commerce, food delivery, fashion, and D2C brands.
But how often do we hear about startups solving India’s most foundational problems?
Sectors like agritech, infrastructure, manufacturing, construction, logistics, space tech, or deep tech rarely make it to the front page.
These sectors are critical to India’s long-term growth, yet they remain undercapitalized and underexplored. The number of startups solving in these spaces is meagre, and the capital they attract is even smaller.
To put things in perspective, Indian startups collectively raised over $10 billion in 2023.
But a closer look at the numbers tells the full story.
According to data from Inc42, just five sectors fintech, edtech, e-commerce, healthtech, and enterprise tech—together accounted for over 77% of total funding in 2023.
- Fintech alone dominated the landscape with $3.8 billion across nearly 180 deals.
- Edtech followed with $2.3 billion and around 80 deals.
- Despite being saturated, e-commerce startups still raised about $1.9 billion, making it the third-largest segment.
- Healthtech clocked in around $1.4 billion, continuing to gain traction.
Together, these four sectors consumed the lion’s share of investment over 70% of total startup funding.
But here’s an interesting insight: while sectors like fintech, edtech, and e-commerce have attracted massive capital, their burn rates are alarmingly high. Most of these companies are struggling to generate sustainable revenues.
On the other hand, there are startups operating in less crowded, often overlooked sectors and they’re not just surviving; they’re thriving. These companies are focused on solving foundational problems that impact real lives, not just urban lifestyles.
For example, Blackbuck, a logistics and trucking platform, reported a profit of ₹28.6 crore in Q1 FY25. It’s fixing inefficiencies in India’s trucking ecosystem a problem most startups don’t even look at.
Then there’s OfBusiness, a raw material supply chain company that’s been consistently profitable for years. It’s bridging the raw material gap for India’s MSMEs.
And DeHaat, an agri-tech startup, reported revenue of ₹2,675 crore in FY24. While it’s still loss-making, the company is on a clear path to profitability by solving real problems in agriculture.
Here’s the key takeaway:
You can build a massively successful company in India not by chasing trends, but by solving one big, real problem.
The harsh truth is: 95% of today’s startups are solving problems for the top 5% of India.
What about the rest? The 95% of Indians who still struggle with basic inefficiencies, outdated systems, and underserved needs?
Do you really believe they don’t have aspirations, needs, or desires?
There lies your opportunity. There lies the next wave of impactful startups the ones that don’t just make noise but build nations.
