New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday highlighted the sweeping transformation of India’s startup ecosystem over the past decade, crediting women entrepreneurs, rising risk appetite and a nationwide cultural shift for powering what he described as a startup revolution.
Speaking on National Startup Day, which marked ten years of the Startup India programme, the Prime Minister said women have played a central role in this transformation, noting that over 45 per cent of recognised startups now have at least one woman director or founder. He added that India has emerged as the world’s second-largest ecosystem for women-led startup funding, strengthening the country’s longterm economic potential.
Mr Modi said India’s startup journey reflects a profound change in mindset towards innovation and risk-taking. Ideas once viewed as risky or fringe are now mainstream and respected, he observed, underlining that confidence and ambition matter as much as headline numbers.
Highlighting growth metrics, the Prime Minister said India had fewer than 500 startups a decade ago, compared with more than 2,00,000 today. The number of unicorns has risen from four in 2014 to around 125 active unicorns at present. In 2025 alone, nearly 44,000 new startups were registered, the highest single-year increase since the programme began.
He noted that the startup movement has expanded beyond major cities to tier-2 and tier-3 towns, creating opportunities for young innovators nationwide. Calling on startups to focus more on manufacturing and world-class products, Mr Modi said the government would continue to back entrepreneurs through regulatory reforms, including decriminalisation of laws, self-certification and simplified mergers and acquisitions.
Launched on January 16, 2016, Startup India has become a cornerstone of India’s innovation and economic architecture, the Prime Minister’s Office said, driving employment, innovation-led growth and stronger domestic value chains across sectors.