India

Telangana

MEMBERS:

T-Hub Foundation

“As a startup powerhouse, Telangana is poised to shape India's future. T-Hub supports this vision and connects entrepreneurs, talent, and capital to drive innovation, growth, and transformation for the state and nation.”

Highlights

Telangana, India’s newest state, displays all the energy, growth, and path-breaking thinking you’d expect from a young, upstart ecosystem. Mobility tech is a growing area of innovation in Telangana. In February 2023 the government of Telangana launched the Telangana Mobility Valley to accelerate the growth of sustainable mobility in the country. Automotive Test Systems and TUV Rheinland will set up an automotive technology center at TMV. Automotive manufacturer Mahindra plans to open a manufacturing facility in Telangana to make electric vehicles (EVs).

In January 2023, the Telangana government's startup incubator T-Hub partnered with VC firm Dallas Venture Capital to launch the ₹350 crore ($42.6 million) DVC India Fund. T-Hub won the sub-category for startup ecosystem enablers at the National Startup Awards 2022. T-Hub’s ‘Global Immersion Program supports Indian startups looking to enter the U.S. market. T-Hub announced a partnership with Suzuki Motor Corporation to provide mentorship to Indian entrepreneurs looking to access Japan’s ecosystem. Launched in July, the Drone-tech Accelerator program is India’s first accelerator program focused on drone technology.

Microsoft will open three 100-MW data centers in Hyderabad, bringing the total number of data centers the company plans to operate in the ecosystem to six. Singapore-based CapitaLand plans to set up a new 36-MW data center in Hyderabad. The Social Entrepreneurship Summit – Impulse 2023 was held in February 2023, as was Hyderabad E-Mobility Week.

Ecosystem by the Numbers

ECOSYSTEM VALUE

(H2 2020 - 2022)

$6.2 bn

GLOBAL AVG. $34.6 bn

TOTAL EARLY–STAGE FUNDING

(H2 2020 - 2022)

$334 m

GLOBAL AVG. $970 m

ECOSYSTEM VALUE GROWTH

(H2 2020 - H2 2022 VS. H2 2018 - H2 2020)

115%

GLOBAL AVG. 47%

NUMBER OF UNICORNS

(H2 2020 - 2022)

GLOBAL AVG. 4

MEDIAN SEED ROUND (H2 2020 - 2022)

$500 k

GLOBAL AVG. $821 k

MEDIAN SERIES A ROUND (H2 2020 - 2022)

$4.8 m

GLOBAL AVG. $6 m

SOFT. ENGINEER SALARY (2022)

$13 k

GLOBAL AVG. $46 k

EARLY-STAGE FUNDING GROWTH (2019 - 20 VS. 2021 - 22)

Scale of 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest)

TOTAL VC FUNDING (2018 - 2022)

$1.6 bn

GLOBAL AVG. $6.6 bn

TIME TO EXIT (2018 - 2022)

7.2 years

GLOBAL AVG. 9 years

EXIT AMOUNT (2018 - 2022)

$728 m

GLOBAL AVG. $11.3 bn

EXIT COUNT (#)

(2018 - 2022)

GLOBAL AVG. 91

14

6

8

7

18

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

Sub-Sector Strengths

Agtech & New Food

Incubator AgHub was launched in 2021 with the aim to nurture an Agtech ecosystem. In June 2022, the Telangana Al Mission announced a partnership with AgHub for capacity building and mentoring. The World Economic Forum's Artificial Intelligence for Agriculture Innovation initiative will promote the use of AI and other technologies in agriculture. More than 7,000 farmers have enrolled in a pilot project in Telangana. Farmer franchising platform Our Food raised a $6 million growth funding round in January 2022.

Life Sciences

Telangana accounts for one third of global vaccine output and contributes 35% of India’s pharmaceutical production. Genome Valley is India’s first organized cluster for Life Sciences R&D and clean manufacturing activities, and is home to numerous international organizations. Sai Life Sciences entered a five-year strategic agreement with Schrödinger to set up research laboratories there and in October 2022, Yapan Bio announced it was opening a new facility in Genome Valley.

AI, Big Data & Analytics

Industry cloud company Infor opened a new development center in Hitech City, Hyderabad in October 2022. Al startup Kore.ai is expanding its footprint in Hyderabad with a new R&D facility in Hitech City. Launched in November 2022, AI for All is a pilot initiative to train students and teachers in basic AI skills. 25,000 students and 4,500 teachers have already completed the online training.

Reasons to Move Your Startup to Telangana

Access to Talent

Since 2020, the government has added thousands of places in new technology courses such as AI, machine learning, Cybersecurity, and Robotics. In January 2023, Mastercard announced the expansion of its Girls4Tech STEM education program in India with the aim of reaching an additional 100,000 female students across the country by 2024, including 14,200 students in Hyderabad. Telangana will soon be home to 26 medical colleges.

Established Startup Hub

Telangana is home to one of India’s fastest-growing startup hubs, Hyderabad, and is the birthplace of SaaS unicorns Darwinbox and Zenoti. The state government launched the second phase of the world’s largest innovation campus, T-Hub, in June 2022. It aims to support over 20,000 startups and house companies, investors, researchers, and ecosystem enablers. The campus will also house offices of several governmental and international agencies.

Dedicated Incentives

Telangana has a self certification-based system for approvals and clearances, meaning relative ease of setting up business. The state government pledges to tailor incentives to match or better incentives offered by any other Indian state. Other incentives include reimbursement of recruitment assistance, a grant of 5% of annual turnover for startups that record a year-on-year growth rate of 15% up to a limit of INR 10 Lakhs ($12.2K) within three years of incorporation, and reimbursement of expenses incurred for patent registration.