In 2024, there seemed to be no stopping young entrepreneurs. In India alone, around 140,000 startups were founded. Worldwide, there were even an average of around 137,000 daily. The booming industries include sustainable energies, artificial intelligence, renewable energies and IT. But which industry really offers the best chances of reaching the break-even point? This article provides insights.
Financial services as a surprising growth engine
Growth of over 7% – these surprising figures were recorded in the Indian financial services sector in 2024. The Indian fintech market alone achieved an increase of over 10%. The best example of this is the company ftcash, which received a license as an online payment aggregator. Since then, it has enjoyed growing popularity, especially due to its specialization in micro-merchants, retail chains, home-based entrepreneurs and small businesses.
Investors are also taking advantage of the industry boom
In addition to the number of start-ups, the gross domestic product of the Indian economy is also growing rapidly. In the 2023/2024 fiscal year (calculated up to the end of 2024), the country recorded an impressive growth rate of 8.2 %. By way of comparison, global gross domestic product only achieved an average growth rate of around 3.2 %. One reason for this could be the RBI. It is strongly supporting fintech start-ups in their international expansion.
Investors can also benefit from India’s positive economic mood. More and more are investing in ETFs. Among the most exciting are Reliance Industries Ltd., Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys Ltd. But how do investors know where they can operate in a reputable manner? This is where regulatory requirements come into play. If companies want to offer trading in securities, ETFs and other financial services, they must officially register. Services such as LEI number online – LEI.net provide support in this regard. The Legal Entity Identifier is designed to increase transparency for customers and international partners, and to create and promote trust in investments.
Information technology: India as a leading country
India has long since caught up in the field of information technology as well. In the first half of 2024, the market grew by around 6.4% compared to the previous year. That makes a volume of about 7.4 billion USD. Worldwide, growth in the IT services sector in 2024 as a whole was around 8.7%, with revenues of 1.5 trillion USD.
One reason for this rapid entry is the growing demand for cloud computing, cyber security and artificial intelligence (AI). More and more companies are outsourcing tasks, embracing digital transformation and automation. This requires hundreds of thousands of experts, who increasingly come from India or are based there.
IT startup success stories
InMobi shows how fast and sustainable growth can be. The mobile advertising platform is considered the first Indian “Unicorn” startup and was founded in 2007. Today, the company is still based in Bangalore and is setting new standards in advertising. Companies can use the applications to reach their target groups very smartly via mobile devices. This reduces expensive marketing expenses, for example for advertising on TV, especially for the growing number of smartphone users.
Another success story in this industry is Moglix. Founded in 2021, the company quickly established itself as one of the most sought-after e-commerce platforms for industrial goods. It has since expanded to countless countries and has offices in the United States, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Europe and the United Arab Emirates. Just one year after its launch, Mogilex was already worth over $2.6 trillion. The reason for this rapid rise is the company’s diverse business areas. Mogilex is now even driving India’s clean energy future with biofuels.
Doing profitable business sustainably
For several years, the market for renewable energies has been booming in India. In 2024, the country added about 28 gigawatts of capacity in this area. The lion’s share of this, around 70%, is solar energy. This makes India one of the world’s leading providers and supporters of sustainable energy. The government is even pursuing the ambitious goal of becoming almost independent of fossil fuels in the long term and wants to significantly reduce CO2 emissions.
Startups bring innovation and economic growth
The targeted promotion of renewable energies also makes it easier for startups in this field to get off the ground. One example of this is Sea6 Energy. From its base in Bangalore, the company has been developing various types of bioprocesses since 2010, primarily in the area of biostimulants for agricultural crops. Sea6 Energy has made a name for itself in particular with “SeaCombine”. Thanks to this automated catamaran technology, algae can be harvested and replanted at the same time in a much more environmentally friendly way.
ONGC Green is another success story from India. Founded in 2024, it has since become one of the leading experts in the field of renewable energies, and has even recently acquired competitor PTC Energy for around 106 million USD. Such examples show that founders with the right industry selection and strategy not only reach the break-even point quickly, but can also be highly interesting for investors.
