Agency, Kolkata/ New Delhi
Published by: Dev Kashyap
Updated Wed, 23 Feb 2022 05:32 AM IST
Summary
Sanjeev Malhotra, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NASSCOM Center of Excellence for Artificial Intelligence (AI), said that the number of startup companies in the country is increasing significantly. Every year 10 percent of new companies are joining. However, there is a need to build startups in the main areas of research.
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Expansion
Sanjeev Malhotra, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NASSCOM Center of Excellence for Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), said that most of the startup companies are in the field of applications. A lot of startup companies are based on software service.
He said that there is a significant increase in the number of startup companies in the country. Every year 10 percent of new companies are joining. However, there is a need to build startups in the main areas of research. He said that India is the third largest startup ecosystem in the whole world. The number of new startup companies in the country has increased to over 14,000 in 2021-22, as compared to only 733 in the financial year 2016-17.
Continuous increase in the number of unicorns
Malhotra said that more unicorns (valued at over $1 billion) are being made in India. In 2021, 44 Indian startups have achieved unicorn status. In this way the number of unicorns in the country has gone up to 83. With this, the total assets of these companies have increased by $ 106 billion. Through startups, 14 lakh people have got jobs both on the direct and indirect front.
One billion smartphone users in the country by 2026
India will have one billion smartphone users by 2026. According to Deloitte’s report released on Tuesday, the number of smartphone users will increase due to the increase in the sales of mobile phones equipped with internet facility in rural areas.
India had 1.2 billion mobile phone users by 2021. Out of this, 750 million people use smartphones. The number of smartphone users in rural areas is projected to grow at a rate of six per cent on an annual basis from 2021 to 2026.