Here’s what Bengaluru needs to do in order to keep its crown as a global startup hub

• Bengaluru needs to turn into a deeptech hub too
• Bengaluru is the only Indian city to be among the top 30 global startup ecosystems of today. It jumped two ranks up in the world’s top 30 startup
• The city is known for its Edtech and Fintech startups but has been facing challenges due to weak environment policy in India.

Bengaluru might be India’s Silicon Valley but it is in dire need of a strong framework to develop and commercialise “deep tech” like smart cities, robotics, autonomous systems, said the Global Startup Genome Report 2019.

Startup Genome is an independent research firm that provides data and insights to startups.

Bengaluru is the only Indian city to be ranked among the top 30 global startup ecosystems ranked by the report. It jumped two ranks this year in the world’s top 30 startup ecosystems list, according to the report. There are 30 global cities that it said have the potential to become the “next” hubs including Bengaluru.

Bengaluru is home to a number of unicorns and is known for its edtech and fintech startups. However, it has been facing several structural bottlenecks.

“A weak policy environment in India, as well as relatively low levels of research production, means that Bangalore might face more challenges in deep tech startup sub-sectors — those requiring tangible IP — than it did in Software, the report explained. It further said,
“Potentially, this might become a significant hindrance in the ecosystem, threatening its future growth,” said the report.

The city is also facing challenges due to “quality” of funding. The past growth

“Bengaluru, Sydney, Stockholm, and Berlin stand out for their relatively low levels of Funding Quality, driven by lack of local, experienced VCs compared to other ecosystem”, said the report.

Edtech and fintech hub

India has witnessed exponential growth in co-working spaces over the last year which has fueled expansion in fintech and edutech hubs in India, with about 42% of startups based in Bengaluru.

A recent India FinTech Report 2019 by global innovation platform MEDICI says that India is the second biggest Fintech Hub after the US with over 2,000 startups nourishing in the zone.

Almost every top ecosystem has a strong national regulatory environment that encourages IP commercialization, according to the report.Here, too, Bangalore, along with Beijing and Shanghai was an exception.

“Bangalore has all of the ingredients to create a world class tech ecosystem - investors, engineers, clients, experts - and the potential to build high-quality global startups at a fraction of the cost.” said Varun Chawla Founder, 91springboard in the report.