As global growth slows, capital tightens, and geopolitics reshapes supply chains, Indian startups seize a rare alignment of startup funding, digital rails, AI infrastructure, manufacturing capacity, and EV demand to create their most constructive environment in over a decade.
IndiatechDesk spoke to Mr. Sajju Jain, a globally minded entrepreneur and Harvard alumnus, who believes disciplined founders can thrive in this cycle if they leverage these structural tailwinds. His view is clear, the opportunity is real, but execution must be sharper than ever.
Sajju Jain said that India continues to stand out as a growth outlier among large economies. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projects 6.4 percent real GDP growth in 2025, providing founders with a stable anchor for revenue planning and hiring.
Domestic capital is also deepening. In July 2025, SIP contributions hit a record INR 28,464 crore, while equity funds saw net inflows of INR 42,702 crore. This strengthens the local bid for listings and follow-ons, making outcomes less binary for well-run businesses, even if startup funding remains selective.
However, he believes this doesn’t make fundraising easy, but it makes outcomes less binary for solid businesses.
Compounding Digital Rails, Lower CAC, Faster Onboarding
Quoting sources, Mr. Jain stated that UPI set a new high in August 2025, with ~20.0 billion transactions. The reported monthly value was about INR 24.85 lakh crore. Two additions expand the surface area for startups:
- Credit on UPI: Pre-sanctioned credit lines accessed through the same UPI flow (this was enabled via NPCI’s OC-171 and the July 10, 2025, addendum).
- Account Aggregator (AA): A consent-based data rail that enables instant underwriting and PFM. In FY25, it averaged ~2.84 lakh daily consents, and cumulative consents crossed 24.8 crore by June 2025.
Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) adds another layer of open commerce. May 2025 marked an all-time high for network transactions, even as retail orders normalized. For founders, these rails can lower Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) and extend reach into Tier-2 and Tier-3 markets, provided unit economics hold once subsidies fade.
One of the most critical developments for Indian startups is the rollout of AI infrastructure. The Union Cabinet approved the IndiaAI Mission with an outlay of INR 10,372 crore over five years to expand compute, datasets, and hubs.
Tangible progress is visible, as Round 2 of GPU tenders has received bids for ~18,000 GPUs, with around 15,000 expected to qualify. Round 3 aims to add ~3,850 GPUs, with reports indicating that Google Trillium TPUs are also in the mix, said Jain.
For founders, this lowers barriers to training, fine-tuning, and deploying AI models, beneficial for vernacular customer experiences, BFSI risk operations, developer tools, and industrial vision. Jain highlights that the real impact will depend on the access model, uptime service level agreement (SLA), and dataset quality.
Manufacturing and Semiconductors, From Announcements to Capacity
India’s manufacturing capacity is moving from announcements to execution. By March 2025, PLI schemes had already realized INR 1.76 lakh crore in investment, generated INR 16.5 lakh crore in production and sales, and created more than 12 lakh jobs. Incentives disbursed touched INR 21,534 crore by June 2025.
In semiconductors, key milestones are stacking up:
- Tata-PSMC fab at Dholera is approved and progressing.
- Micron Sanand Phase-1 ATMP in cleanroom validation as of June 2025.
- HCL–Foxconn OSAT at Jewar approved in May 2025.
For Indian startups, this opens niches in test and measurement software, supply-chain analytics, electronics design, and EDA-adjacent tools. Jain advises founders to model for slippage in timelines and uneven import substitution, not just base cases.
EV and Energy Transition, Demand Curves That Pull the Stack
According to Sajju Jain, EV adoption is becoming a major driver of opportunity. India sold about 2.04 million EVs in FY2025. Electric passenger vehicles surpassed the 1-lakh mark, with H1 CY2025 alone recording 74,539 units—already 75 percent of the total for CY2024. This signals a stronger year ahead.
Rising EV demand creates opportunities for startups in charging and depot management, fleet financing and insurance, battery lifecycle analytics, and energy optimization for logistics hubs and residential complexes. Risks remain, especially around battery program timing and charging density. Jain notes that interoperability and modular hardware exposure are key design considerations.
India’s exit environment has improved. Listings through 2024–25, including those of Go Digit, TBO Tek, Awfis, and ixigo, demonstrate that the exit window is functional. These exits recycle capital to investors and employees, set valuation benchmarks, and increase startup funding appetite. The sustainability of this window, however, depends on post-listing performance, governance standards, and earnings quality.
According to Mr. Sajju Jain, the next three years present a rare opportunity for Indian startups to scale with discipline and purpose. With selective but resilient startup funding, rapidly expanding digital rails, a maturing base of AI infrastructure, tangible progress in manufacturing capacity, and rising EV demand, the ecosystem is aligning in ways that founders have not seen in over a decade.
The opportunity is not guaranteed; global risks and policy shifts will test resilience. However, for entrepreneurs who execute with focus, this moment could mark the beginning of India’s most defining startup chapter yet.
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