n the last 8 years of Startup India, India has commenced an ambitious and spectacular journey of becoming an innovation-driven digital economy, with remarkable success.
Until now, despite the massive rise in the number of startups, most of them have remained confined to a few metro cities such as Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi and Mumbai. The fact that the startups are concentrated in these areas reflects a lack of support system for entrepreneurs beyond the metros.
Today, many Indian cities and towns including Thiruvananthapuram, Jaipur, Kanpur, Ahmedabad, Bhubaneswar, Visakhapatnam, Chandigarh, Kolkata and others are rising through the ranks to become prominent startup hubs. Around 38,500 recognised startups in India today are from non-metro regions.
One of the critical factors that have led to this phenomenon is the pandemic. The shift which was anyway happening, albeit slowly, got expedited by COVID. In the last two years, many city dwellers started operating from their hometowns, which necessarily were not tier I cities.
Founders from tier II, III cities are leading this pack as they have a better understanding about the future of India’s startup hub. Here are some notable startups from tier II and beyond cities.
1. CarDekho
Headquartered in Jaipur, CarDekho was founded in 2008 and has footprints in India, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Currently, it is recognised in India as the largest automotive video content player with 3 million+ YouTube subscribers, the largest consumer-facing digital destination with 50 million monthly unique visitors, and the largest auto social media platform.
2. Phool co.
Founded in 2017, Kanpur based Phool.co collects floral waste from the temples and mosques in Uttar Pradesh, thus preventing 7600 kgs of waste flowers and 97 kgs of toxic chemicals from getting into the river Ganges daily. The waste is handcrafted by rural women self-help groups into patented organic fertiliser and incense sticks via flowercycling.
3. CareStack
Founded in 2015, the company offers a unique cloud-based dental software solution designed for dental practices to simplify operations, elevate patient relationships, improve staff productivity, and accelerate business growth and income.
4. Hubilo
Founded in 2015, Hubilo is an Ahmedabad-based smart virtual event platform that brings experience and intelligence together. It hosts interactive online events and connects attendees globally with Hublio’s Virtual Event Management Software.
5. DhiWise
Founded in 2021, DhiWise is a Surat-based programming platform where developers can convert their designs into developer-friendly code for mobile and web apps. DhiWise automates the application development lifecycle and instantly generates readable, modular and reusable code.
6. AquaExchange
Founded in 2020, AquaExchange is headquartered in Andhra Pradesh, aims to transform the lives of Indian farmers with its patented technology and is demonstrating its value proposition to all stakeholders in the ecosystem.
