Sudhir Sethi
Member, CII National Startup Council & Founder and Chairman, Chiratae Ventures
India’s Startup Journey: From Innovation to Scale
In 2025, India became the fourth-largest economy in the world, reflecting sustained growth supported by a dynamic entrepreneurial ecosystem and rapid digitisation that has fundamentally reshaped the Indian economic landscape.
Digitisation has catalysed this ecosystem in profound ways. India’s early investments in digital public infrastructure, from Aadhaar to UPI and widespread mobile broadband, has created an open, scalable foundation for startups to build on. UPI’s real-time payments architecture, for example, rapidly enabled fintech scale and has reshaped commerce for millions of users. Digital adoption in tier-2 and tier-3 cities expanded addressable markets, while data accessibility and digital tools have helped founders iterate quickly and innovate responsively.
In the past decade, Indian startups have shifted from local to global category leaders. Today, we see not only consumer internet success stories but also rapid growth in DeepTech domains such as artificial intelligence, robotics, advanced analytics, SpaceTech and ClimateTech, sectors that are increasingly the focus of India’s policy and capital support. We’ve also seen the rise of agile manufacturing and tech-enabled supply chain innovation, reinforcing the nexus between technology and real-world production. This momentum is reinforced by the deepening pools of domestic capital with Fund of Funds (FoF) like SIDBI, SRI, Indian Family offices and banks like SBI providing ready capital and more recently with the launch of the INR 1 Lac Crore Research, Development and Innovation Fund (RDIF) by the Government of India.
At Chiratae, over the past 19 years, we have invested around a billion dollars in 130+ companies across sectors of the digital economy, including ConsumerTech, FinTech, HealthTech, SaaS, AgriTech, and deeptech/AI sectors.
These investments include category-defining companies such as AgroStar in Agritech platform, Lenskart in eyewear, Myntra in fashion commerce, Cure.fit in wellness, Curefoods in cloud kitchens, Fibe in lending, Flipkart in e-commerce, FirstCry in omnichannel retail, Lenskart in eyewear, Myntra in fashion commerce, Policybazaar in insurance, and Redcliffe in Diagnostic labs.
Alongside this, deep technology has been a consistent area of focus for Chiratae. We have backed companies across key DeepTech sub-sectors this includes investments such as Pixis and Frinks.AI in applied AI, Cavli in semiconductor-enabled IoT, Minus Zero in autonomous vehicles, TakeMe2Space in space infrastructure, Miko in robotics, Cropin in DeepTech-led Agritech, and Aether Biomedical in medical devices. These companies are solving complex, engineering-led problems and reflect Chiratae’s long-standing belief that deep scientific and technical innovation will play an increasingly central role in shaping India’s next phase of growth.
We see commercial returns and social impact as deeply interconnected. Technology has been the critical enabler allowing many of our portfolio companies to scale solutions that create tangible impact across society, particularly for women and underserved communities. Six years ago, we institutionalised impact measurement by launching our annual Impact Report, tracking how our investments contribute across healthcare, agriculture, financial inclusion, climate resilience, and broader societal outcomes.
Collectively, the companies we back reach over 138 million individuals, including 54 million women, and support 747,000 businesses- 470,000 of them nano and MSMEs at the heart of India’s economy. Notably, 270,000 of these nano and MSME businesses are in tier 2 and beyond cities, reflecting our role in catalysing growth beyond metropolitan India. Our AgriTech portfolio has reached 4.9 million farmers, while our HealthTech portfolio has facilitated 890 million screenings and consultations, improving access for 102 million people.
On this National Startup Day, we celebrate the grit, resilience, and digital-driven innovation of India’s founders and the impact that startups have delivered towards our economy and people at large. As technology scales and infrastructure deepens, supportive policy frameworks will continue to accelerate innovation, investment, and long-term value creation across the economy. We also reaffirm Chiratae’s commitment to backing audacious entrepreneurs whose bold ideas will continue to drive India’s growth, impact, and shared prosperity in the decade ahead.
Digitisation has catalysed this ecosystem in profound ways. India’s early investments in digital public infrastructure, from Aadhaar to UPI and widespread mobile broadband, has created an open, scalable foundation for startups to build on. UPI’s real-time payments architecture, for example, rapidly enabled fintech scale and has reshaped commerce for millions of users. Digital adoption in tier-2 and tier-3 cities expanded addressable markets, while data accessibility and digital tools have helped founders iterate quickly and innovate responsively.
In the past decade, Indian startups have shifted from local to global category leaders. Today, we see not only consumer internet success stories but also rapid growth in DeepTech domains such as artificial intelligence, robotics, advanced analytics, SpaceTech and ClimateTech, sectors that are increasingly the focus of India’s policy and capital support. We’ve also seen the rise of agile manufacturing and tech-enabled supply chain innovation, reinforcing the nexus between technology and real-world production. This momentum is reinforced by the deepening pools of domestic capital with Fund of Funds (FoF) like SIDBI, SRI, Indian Family offices and banks like SBI providing ready capital and more recently with the launch of the INR 1 Lac Crore Research, Development and Innovation Fund (RDIF) by the Government of India.
At Chiratae, over the past 19 years, we have invested around a billion dollars in 130+ companies across sectors of the digital economy, including ConsumerTech, FinTech, HealthTech, SaaS, AgriTech, and deeptech/AI sectors.
These investments include category-defining companies such as AgroStar in Agritech platform, Lenskart in eyewear, Myntra in fashion commerce, Cure.fit in wellness, Curefoods in cloud kitchens, Fibe in lending, Flipkart in e-commerce, FirstCry in omnichannel retail, Lenskart in eyewear, Myntra in fashion commerce, Policybazaar in insurance, and Redcliffe in Diagnostic labs.
Alongside this, deep technology has been a consistent area of focus for Chiratae. We have backed companies across key DeepTech sub-sectors this includes investments such as Pixis and Frinks.AI in applied AI, Cavli in semiconductor-enabled IoT, Minus Zero in autonomous vehicles, TakeMe2Space in space infrastructure, Miko in robotics, Cropin in DeepTech-led Agritech, and Aether Biomedical in medical devices. These companies are solving complex, engineering-led problems and reflect Chiratae’s long-standing belief that deep scientific and technical innovation will play an increasingly central role in shaping India’s next phase of growth.
We see commercial returns and social impact as deeply interconnected. Technology has been the critical enabler allowing many of our portfolio companies to scale solutions that create tangible impact across society, particularly for women and underserved communities. Six years ago, we institutionalised impact measurement by launching our annual Impact Report, tracking how our investments contribute across healthcare, agriculture, financial inclusion, climate resilience, and broader societal outcomes.
Collectively, the companies we back reach over 138 million individuals, including 54 million women, and support 747,000 businesses- 470,000 of them nano and MSMEs at the heart of India’s economy. Notably, 270,000 of these nano and MSME businesses are in tier 2 and beyond cities, reflecting our role in catalysing growth beyond metropolitan India. Our AgriTech portfolio has reached 4.9 million farmers, while our HealthTech portfolio has facilitated 890 million screenings and consultations, improving access for 102 million people.
On this National Startup Day, we celebrate the grit, resilience, and digital-driven innovation of India’s founders and the impact that startups have delivered towards our economy and people at large. As technology scales and infrastructure deepens, supportive policy frameworks will continue to accelerate innovation, investment, and long-term value creation across the economy. We also reaffirm Chiratae’s commitment to backing audacious entrepreneurs whose bold ideas will continue to drive India’s growth, impact, and shared prosperity in the decade ahead.
