India’s startup landscape is undergoing a dramatic transformation, with 2025 shaping up to be a watershed year marked by bold new initiatives, record-breaking numbers, and unprecedented collaboration between industry, academia, and government. On August 19, 2025, two landmark announcements—Tata Steel’s TomorrowLAB Accelerator Programme and IQue Ventures’ ₹600 crore Startup Park project—underscored the country’s determination to cement its place as one of the world’s most dynamic innovation hubs. Meanwhile, states like Bihar are emerging as key contributors to this entrepreneurial surge, powered by government policy and industry partnerships that reach far beyond the country’s traditional tech capitals.
According to the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), India’s startup ecosystem now boasts a staggering 180,683 DPIIT-recognised startups as of June 2025. This figure highlights the meteoric rise of entrepreneurship across the country, with over 138,000 startups recognized in just the last five years. Notably, Bihar has emerged as a standout regional hub, with 3,766 startups recognized in 2025 alone—3,049 of which were added since 2020. This marks a significant shift, as innovation and entrepreneurial energy spread beyond metropolitan centers like Bengaluru and Delhi NCR into tier-II and tier-III cities across India.
Speaking to this nationwide momentum, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jitin Prasada credited “government policy support and industry partnerships” for fueling India’s rapid ascent as a global innovation powerhouse. The government’s comprehensive 19-point Startup Action Plan continues to drive growth, focusing on simplified compliance, financial support through flagship schemes, and robust industry–academia partnerships. Programs such as the Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS), Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS), and Credit Guarantee Scheme for Startups (CGSS) have become lifelines for early-stage ventures, while digital platforms like the Startup India Hub and Bharat Startup Knowledge Access Registry (BHASKAR) are breaking down barriers and connecting founders with mentors, investors, and resources.
On the industry front, Tata Steel’s TomorrowLAB Accelerator Programme represents a strategic leap forward for startup support in eastern India. Announced on August 19, 2025, this six-month accelerator is the result of a Memorandum of Understanding between Tata Steel, IIT Bhubaneswar Research & Entrepreneurship Park (IIT BBSR REP), and India Accelerator. The programme, set to launch in September, is designed to provide high-potential startups with mentorship, technical guidance, funding access, and invaluable industry exposure. Startups selected for the cohort are expected to have a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and show early signs of market adoption, ensuring that the support offered is both timely and impactful.
Subodh Pandey, Vice President – Technology, R&D, NMB, and Graphene at Tata Steel, emphasized the company’s commitment to fostering innovation through collaboration. “We have long believed in the power of collaboration between industry and academia to accelerate sustainable innovation. India’s startup ecosystem holds immense promise, and Odisha’s proactive efforts, including programmes like ‘100 Cube’, have been instrumental in creating a vibrant entrepreneurial environment. The TomorrowLAB Accelerator Programme will contribute to building an innovation hub in Eastern India,” Pandey stated.
The TomorrowLAB Accelerator is structured around four key pillars: dedicated mentorship, structured capacity-building workshops, guidance on commercialization strategies and funding, and tailored business advisory support. Participants will also benefit from strategic market access and partnership opportunities, leveraging the extensive networks of IIT Bhubaneswar and India Accelerator. A defining feature of the programme is its focused engagement with Tata Steel in areas such as water management, waste heat recovery, robotics, and automation—all closely aligned with the company’s innovation and sustainability goals. Tata Steel intends to continue working with selected startups after the accelerator, providing opportunities for pilot projects to test solutions in real-world conditions.
This effort is part of Tata Steel’s broader TomorrowLAB initiative, which serves as its flagship platform for engaging with startups across India and globally. With a robust foundation in manufacturing and materials science, Tata Steel is also recognized for its ambitious sustainability commitments, including a goal to achieve Net Zero emissions by 2045. The company’s digital transformation has earned global accolades, with its plants in Jamshedpur, Kalinganagar, and IJmuiden recognized as Global Lighthouse facilities by the World Economic Forum. Tata Steel’s leadership in responsible production is further evidenced by its ResponsibleSteel™ certification and numerous awards, including the Prime Minister’s Trophy for best-performing integrated steel plant and the 2024 Steel Sustainability Champion title from worldsteel.
While Tata Steel focuses on nurturing startups through accelerator models and industry engagement, IQue Ventures is taking a different, but equally ambitious, approach. Also announced on August 19, 2025, IQue Ventures’ ₹600 crore Startup Park project is billed as India’s first infrastructure hub dedicated exclusively to startups. The first facility, valued at ₹50 crore, will open in Bengaluru in mid-September 2025, with plans for expansion into other major Indian cities and select global markets. The inauguration is set to feature senior ministers, entrepreneurs, and venture capitalists—a testament to the project’s high-profile backing.
What sets Startup Park apart is its all-encompassing ecosystem. The Bengaluru facility will house Pitch Studios for investor presentations, Innovation Labs for research and prototyping, Co-working Zones, a Startup Showcase Arena, Investor Lounges, and an Incubation and Acceleration Wing. Additional amenities include Podcast and Media Rooms, Event Halls, a Global Collaboration Center for international startups, and a Networking Cafe. Shafi Shoukath, Founder and CEO of IQue Ventures, described the vision: “Startup Park will be a huge addition to the startup ecosystem in India. Everything that founders require, starting with their first pitch to the spread of their global expansion, will be under one roof. We hope to reproduce this model in India and around the world so we can build a network of connected hubs across the globe.”
These developments come at a time when India’s startup ecosystem is not only growing in numbers but also in diversity and resilience. Bihar’s rise as a key startup hub illustrates how government funding, industry partnerships, and grassroots innovation are transforming regions once overlooked by the mainstream tech narrative. From agritech in Muzaffarpur to edtech in Gaya and handloom e-commerce in Bhagalpur, Bihar’s entrepreneurs are tackling local challenges with global relevance. The recent Memorandum of Understanding between DPIIT and Stride Ventures promises to further boost access to venture debt funding, strategic mentorship, and global market opportunities—especially for states like Bihar, where funding has historically been a challenge.
India’s startup ecosystem, now recognized as one of the fastest-growing in the world, is poised for even greater heights. With over 1.87 lakh DPIIT-recognised startups spanning sectors from fintech to healthtech and deeptech, the country is on track to become a $5 trillion economy, with startups at the heart of job creation, technological advancement, and global competitiveness. The convergence of visionary industry players like Tata Steel, bold infrastructure projects like IQue Ventures’ Startup Park, and proactive government policy is setting the stage for a new era of entrepreneurship—one that is inclusive, collaborative, and future-ready.
As 2025 unfolds, the message is clear: India’s innovation engine is running at full throttle, fueled by the combined efforts of industry, government, and a new generation of entrepreneurs determined to shape the future.
