Hyderabad: The startup ecosystem of Hyderabad may be lagging behind its peers like Bengaluru, Chennai and even Pune when it comes to unicorns, with only two to boast of, Skyroot and Darwinbox, but it is maturing rapidly and has entered a scale-up phase in which growth capital and market access have emerged as the most important priorities, according to the Hyderabad Startup Readiness Index 2026.The index, based on a survey of 216 founders, investors, corporates and ecosystem stakeholders, gave the city an overall ecosystem confidence score of 6.5 out of 10. The score reflects confidence in Hyderabad’s innovation foundations while also pointing to gaps that need to be addressed as startups move beyond formation and early growth.The index and report, released by venture capital firm Endiya Partners as part of the first edition of its Hyderabad Innovation Report 2026, found that infrastructure and connectivity have emerged as the city’s strongest advantage, cited by 43% of respondents. Talent availability was identified by 38%, while 36% pointed to cost efficiency.The findings position Hyderabad among India’s most attractive startup destinations, especially for companies seeking engineering talent, institutional support and relatively lower operating costs.The broader innovation report said Hyderabad is home to more than 10,000 startups and has attracted over $3 billion in venture funding across more than 384 deals since 2014. The city also hosts more than 355 global capability centres, which is nearly 20% of India’s GCC base, and is the country’s second-largest technology talent hub.The report also highlighted Hyderabad’s wider economic and innovation base. By 2024, the city’s GDP was estimated at $180.5 billion, supported by $32.2 billion in IT exports.Hyderabad is also a major life sciences centre, producing about one-third of the world’s vaccines and 33% of India’s pharmaceutical output. The life sciences sector attracted $4.13 billion in investment in 2024 alone, creating 51,000 jobs.However, the survey found that the next stage of the ecosystem’s growth will depend on stronger scale-up support. Access to capital was identified as the area needing the most attention by 33% of respondents, while 29% highlighted market access.The report said this indicates a shift in the ecosystem’s requirements from enabling startup creation to helping companies expand across domestic and global markets.Stakeholder concerns varied across the ecosystem. While founders cited stage-specific funding challenges, investors pointed to capital availability across funding stages, and ecosystem enablers expressed stronger optimism because of institutional support and collaboration.Sateesh Andra, managing partner at Endiya Partners, said Hyderabad’s next phase would depend on deeper pools of capital, stronger market access and collaboration among founders, investors, corporates and policymakers.Chaitanya Peddi, co-founder of Darwinbox, said Hyderabad was evolving from a talent hub into a base for globally competitive technology companies, supported by engineering and operational discipline.
