India sees 136 startups daily:50,000 new startups added in 2025, 2.09 lakh in total; 3% closed in past 10 years, lowest closure rate worldwide

In 2025, more than 50,000 new startups were launched in the country. This means, on average, 136 startups opened every day. With this, the total number of registered startups in India has reached 209,000. On the last Startup Day (January 2025), the country had 159,000 startups. This marks the fastest annual growth in the past decade. According to a report by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), 52.6% of startups are from Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, not metro areas. Half of the startups have at least one woman director, covering sectors from baby products to heavy industrial machinery. Over the past decade, startups have created around 2.1 million jobs nationwide. On average, each startup has provided direct employment to 10 people. Last year, only seven startups became unicorns (companies valued at one billion dollars or more). Meanwhile, the implementation of the online gaming law led to the loss of unicorn status for four companies (Dream11, MPL, Gameskraft, and Games24Into7). According to Sanjeev, Joint Secretary at DPIIT, 6,385 startups have closed in the past ten years, just 3% of all startups, a rate that is among the lowest in the world. Also Read | Top 5 weird startups that became gold mines Maharashtra had the most startup openings, MP had lowest with 180 closures Moving from Startup India to Entrepreneurial India Also Read | Sam Altman and husband backing startup to edit babies’ genes PM says, India became world’s 3rd largest startup ecosystem Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that India has become the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem. He noted that a decade ago the country had fewer than 500 startups, a number that has now crossed over two lakh. Speaking on National Startup Day, the Prime Minister said India’s youth are working to solve real-life problems and are showing the courage to dream big. He praised young innovators for their efforts and contribution to the country’s growth. PM Modi was speaking at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi during an event marking 10 years of the Startup India initiative. He said India should aim to lead the world in startups and technology over the next decade. The Startup India campaign was launched by the Prime Minister on January 16, 2016. Its aim is to promote innovation, entrepreneurship, and enable growth through investment. In the last decade, more than 2 lakh startups have been recognized across the country. Five major points from PM Modi’s speech ​