What’s UP Doing To Have 50% Of Its Startups Be Led By Women?

So, what’s going on with India’s burgeoning startup ecosystem? As of June 2024, there are about 140,000 DPIIT-recognized startups in the country. With close to 120 unicorns in India, the nation saw around 6 unicorns join the list in 2024 so far.

What about state-wise? It seems like UP might have become India’s top startup hub with around 13,500 registered startups, according to the state’s Electronics & IT Minister Sunil Kumar Sharma. And who’s contributing to UP becoming an enterprise powerhouse? MNCs? Tech hubs? It’s women. That’s right, over 50% of startups in UP are said to be led by women.

Interestingly, a report outlined that as of January 2024, around 55,000 startups out of around 117,000 startups have at least 1 woman director, which is close to 50%.

It’s said that UP’s aim is to become a trillion-dollar economy in the next couple of years, so its startup policy was said to have been amended with the aim of establishing 100 incubators in all of its districts. Additionally, there’s a plan to develop India’s first AI city in Lucknow and help fund AI startups.

There’s, also, something called a “single window clearance system”, which would reduce the complexity and time it takes entrepreneurs to get approvals, licenses and clearances for their startups. UP is said to have something called “Nivesh Mitra” which is said to have a disposal rate of about 98% for business clearances, which might be the highest in India.

As the state with the largest area in India’s most fertile Indo-Gangetic Plains, UP is the leading contributor to the national food grain stock as well as to the national food security. As per the Government of Uttar Pradesh, approximately 65% of the state population is dependent on agriculture. 

But, of course, there are still challenges for women entrepreneurs. Access to capital’s a big one. In 2021, just 0.3% of India’s VC funding went to women-led startups. There’s said to be an unmet credit gap of around $11.5 billion that women-led businesses face. Ouch.

UP is said to be the leading contributor to India’s national food grain stock and national food security. So, has agriculture provided sustainable opportunities for women? Could women entrepreneurs rule with AgriTech startups in UP? Or if agriculture in UP might marginalize women, is it non-farming businesses that women entrepreneurs are gravitating to?

Will India’s next unicorn be headed by a woman entrepreneur from UP? Would that be telling?