Kumar Bahukhandi
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Bengaluru-Karnataka grows Three times Asia’s average rate
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Bengaluru-Karnataka outpaces Singapore in Startup Exit Value
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Between 2021-2025 – Bengaluru-Karnataka generated
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USD 46 billion in startup exits
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attracted USD39 billion in venture capital
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ecosystem value grew 190%
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Outpacing both global and regional growth rates.
Government of Karnataka and Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM), in partnership with Startup Genome, today announced key findings from the Global Startup Ecosystem Report (GSER) 2026, unveiled at VivaTech Paris. The rankings highlight India’s growing innovation footprint, with six Indian ecosystems featured globally. Recognized as the definitive benchmark for startup ecosystems, GSER draws on data from more than 5.5 million companies across 350+ innovation ecosystems worldwide.
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Bengaluru, Karnataka: Ranked Second in Asia for AI Innovation, Enters Global Top 10 in Performance and R&D
The GSER 2026 ecosystem rankings are based on a weighted composite index across six key success factors: Performance (27.5%), Funding (20%), Market Reach (20%), Talent and Experience (17.5%), AI-Native Cluster (10%), and R&D Engine (5%). Each factor is scored on a 1–10 scale across more than 350 global ecosystems, making the ranking a multidimensional assessment of ecosystem strength rather than a single-parameter measure.
The finding underscores Bengaluru-Karnataka’s growing influence in the global AI landscape. Ranked Asia’s #2 AI-native startup ecosystem the region continues to build on its strengths in talent, research, entrepreneurship, and venture capital. The ecosystem also recorded stronger-than-average growth in early-stage AI funding, reinforcing Karnataka’s role in shaping India’s AI future.
Bengaluru-Karnataka Ecosystem Analysis
Across the GSER 2026 framework, Bengaluru-Karnataka demonstrates consistent outperformance across multiple high-weight indicators, with particularly strong signals in ecosystem output, innovation capacity, and value creation velocity.
Ranking #15 globally in the Startup Ecosystem Index, Bengaluru-Karnataka continues to strengthen its position as India’s leading startup hub. Since GSER 2021, the ecosystem has recorded a 190% growth in ecosystem value, significantly outpacing the global average of 149% and the Asia average of 66%. With a total ecosystem value of USD 153 billion, USD 46 billion in startup exits between 2021 and 2025, 304 exits, and 30 active unicorns, Bengaluru-Karnataka demonstrates strong innovation output while maintaining comparatively lower talent input costs. The ecosystem ranks among the Top 10 globally and #3 in Asia for Performance, and among the Top 15 globally and #4 in Asia by Ecosystem Value.
On the investment front, Bengaluru-Karnataka attracted USD 39 billion in venture funding between 2021 and 2025, placing it among the Top 15 ecosystems globally and fourth in Asia. The ecosystem’s average exit timeline of 8.2 years, compared to the global average of 11.1 years, reflects faster value-realisation cycles and capital recycling. Its funding profile is characterised by a strong concentration of growth and late-stage capital, complemented by increasing early-stage activity, highlighting the continued evolution of the ecosystem.
In innovation, Bengaluru-Karnataka’s R&D Engine ranking improved from the global Top 30 in GSER 2025 to the Top 10 globally in GSER 2026, driven by increased patent output and research commercialisation. This growth is supported by leading institutions such as IISc, ISRO, DRDO, C-DAC, and NAL, alongside emerging deep-tech initiatives in quantum technologies and aerospace. The ecosystem has also emerged as a leading AI hub, accounting for approximately 58% of India’s AI startup funding and ranking #2 in Asia in the AI-Native Cluster category.
This indicates strong early-stage concentration in AI-first business models, with scaling potential dependent on later-stage capital and global market expansion.
Overall, GSER 2026 highlights a structurally high-performing ecosystem characterised by strong value creation efficiency, improving innovation output, and above-average capital inflows, supported by faster exit cycles and deepening research-commercialisation linkages.
Bengaluru-Karnataka’s Key Highlights in GSER 2026
Bengaluru retained its position among the world’s Top 40 startup ecosystems for the second consecutive year and ranked as the #15 Global Startup Ecosystem, with an ecosystem value of USD 152.8 billion. The ecosystem ranked among the Top 10 globally and #3 in Asia for Performance, which measures the size and performance of an ecosystem based on accumulated startup value created through exits and funding.
In innovation, Bengaluru-Karnataka ranked among the Top 10 globally and #5 in Asia in the R&D Engine category, which measures innovation through research activity and patent generation. The ecosystem also ranked among the Top 15 globally and #4 in Asia in Funding Momentum, which measures ecosystem strength through early-stage funding activity and investor participation.
Bengaluru-Karnataka further ranked among the Top 15 globally and #2 in Asia in the AI-Native Cluster category, which measures the scale and intensity of AI startup activity within the ecosystem. In Talent Strength, the ecosystem ranked among the Top 30 globally and Top 10 in Asia, measuring its ability to generate, attract, and retain high-quality talent over time. The ecosystem also ranked among the Top 20 in Asia in Affordable Talent, which measures the ability to hire technology talent competitively, and among the Top 30 in Asia in Funding Runway, which measures the average capital runway that startups secure from venture funding rounds.
Commenting on the recognition, Priyank Kharge, Honourable Home minister, IT & BT, E-governance, Government of Karnataka, said, “Bengaluru-Karnataka is no longer just India’s startup capital; it is increasingly a global DeepTech and AI innovation hub. This recognition by Startup Genome validates our long-term investments in talent, research, entrepreneurship, and emerging technologies. As we build Karnataka’s DeepTech Decade, our focus remains clear: create the next generation of globally impactful companies from Karnataka for the world.”
View the full report here www.karnatakadigital.in.
