Emergence Or Non-Emergence Of Tech Start-Ups In India. What Are The Distinctive Features?

Abstract

Tech start-ups are the engines for innovation and job creation and the biggest contributor to the GDP. Tech startups are rapidly increasing in number, especially in the developed world. Despite the increasing number, the rate of emergence among tech start-ups is not experienced (Bala Subrahmanya, 2015). The tech startup journey is not short of challenges. Only 10% of the tech startups succeed in emerging. The emergence analysis is conducted to identify the contributing factors for the emergence and non-emergence of tech start-ups. The budding disruptive ideas, fueled by the external finance provided by the ecosystem and the passion of the entrepreneur are not sufficient to make the startup reach the breakeven point and emerge as a successful tech startup. This opens the research question, to identify the attributes that impact emergence of the tech start-ups. This study aims to understand attributes contributing to the emergence of tech start-ups. Primary data was collected from 312 tech start-ups from 9 major start-up hubs across India employing a random sampling technique.  A structured questionnaire is used to collect responses. Binomial regression and Kruskal–Wallis tests are used to analyse determinants of the tech start-up emergence. Findings indicate education and prior start-up experience in entrepreneurial profiles, Patents, STEM employees in the enterprise profile and external funding, incubation facilities and Government grants in the ecosystem are the attributes for the emergence of start-ups the start-ups with experienced founders, employees with good knowledge of the technology and the support extended by the ecosystem are the determinants of the start-up emergence. The study results facilitate the budding technopreneurs for better equipping themselves and avoiding mistakes leading to the non-emergence of the start-ups. The study was limited to tech start-ups that originated in India.