In India’s thriving startup landscape, the number of women leading startups has significantly increased. According to the Women in India’s Startup Ecosystem Report (WISER), women-led startups have grown to 18% in India over the past five years.

What Happened: In 2017, India had around 6,000 startups, with 10% of them being led by female founders, the report stated. By 2022, the total number of startups in India had surged to 80,000, with women now heading 18% of these startups.

The report emphasised the progress of women in leadership positions within startups, contrasting this with traditional corporate firms. In the startup sector, 32% of women hold managerial roles, while only 21% do so in corporations. This gap widens further at the CXO level, where startups have 18% of women in leadership positions compared to just 5% in corporate companies.

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Notably, startups founded by women have 2.5 times more women in senior roles compared to those founded by men, the report found.

More Women Power: The report also highlighted the rise of unicorn startups in India, with 105 becoming unicorns in 2022, compared to only 13 in 2017. Within this growth, women-led unicorn startups saw their share increase from 8% to 17%.

Venture capital (VC) funding for Indian startups has also shown a positive trend. In 2017, total VC funding was $5.9 billion (₹49,120 crore), with women-led startups receiving 11% of the funding. By 2022, VC funding had surged to $21.9 billion (₹1.82 lakh crore), and women-led startups received 20% of the total funding.

While these statistics are promising, the report also pointed out the need for ongoing efforts, as eight out of 10 men in startups hold director-level positions or higher after ten years in their careers, whereas only five in 10 women achieve the same positions.

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