Delhi is leading the way in co-working office space? And what’s behind startup culture booming in Delhi ?
It used to be Bangalore where the most activity was happening, but Delhi and Bangalore are now about the same in terms of businesses starting up and funding opportunities.
Many local people who were living and studying abroad in places like the UK, the US and Australia are coming back to establish startups here because Delhi is a growing market and has big potential.
India has seen significant economic growth in recent years despite global economic difficulties. According to a recent Ernst & Young (EY) report, India’s GDP grew by 7.9% for the 10 year period ending 2012-13.
According to a report by Indian software thinktank , 20% of the country’s most valuable software companies are now headquartered in Delhi’s national capital region (NCR). This puts it only 7% behind Bangalore, India’s leading city for enterprise and technology.
The NCR area is home to the Indian headquarters of Google, Microsoft, IBM and restaurant search engine Zomato, a homegrown startup.
These developments are contributing to the rise in the number of startups, says Sudeep Singh, director of the Google-partnered online community, Startup Grind India. “Delhi’s startup scene is growing exponentially due to the entrepreneurial ecosystem here and the government support provided to the NCR.
At such office space these opportunities include workshops, hackathons and pitching sessions.Networking sessions at such co-work office spaces are providing to be helpful to connect to like minded people.
Indian society is becoming less conservative, so it’s a good time to bring new ideas to the market. India has a traditionally slow-moving work culture. Co-working office space and collaboration with local workers are useful ways to overcome these cultural differences – especially for expat entrepreneurs.
With its evolving startup culture, it will be interesting to see if Delhi can begin to compete with Bangalore’s position as India’s city for enterprise. For the moment, the energy of its new generation of entrepreneurs is palpable.
