India has added 1,600 new tech start-ups and a record 12 unicorns in 2020, according to the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) annual start-up report. Despite being a pandemic year, 2020 did one better than 2019 when just over 1,300 new start-ups and  seven unicorns were added.

The report,  ‘Indian Tech Start-up Ecosystem – On the March to Trillion Dollar Digital Economy’, said that 2020 saw the highest ever new start-ups added in a single calendar year.

“The Indian tech start-up base is witnessing a steady growth at a scale of 8-10 per cent year-on-year growth. Covid-19 has accelerated digital adoption and the shift to online in the country. This has created new opportunities for tech start-ups that are capitalising on this opportunity,” Nasscom said. While the investments in 2020 were significantly lower than in 2019, a recovery in deal pace and investments is expected to return to 2019 levels, the report said.

Deep-tech is also getting deep-rooted into start-ups’ DNA with 19 per cent of tech start-ups leveraging deep-tech solutions to build product competencies for market expansion. This has given  momentum in the deep-tech space with increased interest from venture capital firms. Around 14 per cent of total investments in 2020 was in deep-tech start-ups, up from 11 per cent in 2019 and 87 per cent of all deep-tech investments was in AI or ML start-ups, in 2020, the report said.

Debjani Ghosh, President, Nasscom, said, “The continued innovation, right decision-making and strong investor commitment have positioned the Indian start-up ecosystem as a key contributor in accelerating India’s digital economic growth. .”

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