A recent survey by the Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit Students’ Survey (GUESSS) has revealed that 32.5% of Indian college students are already nascent entrepreneurs, actively working on starting their own businesses.
This figure significantly exceeds the global average of 25.7%, showcasing India’s growing entrepreneurial momentum, likely fueled by government initiatives and a positive entrepreneurship climate in Indian universities.
The GUESSS India 2023 Report, the first of its kind, provides a comprehensive look at the entrepreneurial aspirations and activities of Indian students. It found that 14% of students plan to become founders immediately after graduation, closely mirroring the global average of 15.7%.
Moreover, entrepreneurial aspirations rise over time, with 31.4% of Indian students intending to start their ventures within five years, compared to the global average of 30%.
The report was spearheaded by Dr Puran Singh, Associate Professor at the School of Management, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi, and Country Delegate for GUESSS India. It was co-authored by Mr. Dharmender K Yadav, National Team Member and Doctoral Candidate at IIT Mandi.
The survey, conducted between November 2023 and February 2024, gathered responses from 13,896 students across hundreds of higher education institutions in India.
The GUESSS India 2023 Report reveals several key trends:
- Shifting Career Aspirations: While 69.7% of students initially aim for employment after graduation, this drops to 52.2% over five years. During that period, entrepreneurial intent rose sharply, with 31.4% of students planning to start their ventures, compared to 14% at graduation.
- Strong Entrepreneurial Intent: Indian students demonstrated the highest entrepreneurial intent globally, with an average score of 4.6 on a 7-point scale, significantly higher than the global average of 3.7.
- Robust Venture Pipeline: 38% of students are involved in venture creation, with 33% in the nascent stage—the highest among global peers. However, only 4.8% of these ventures have reached the revenue-generating stage, highlighting growth potential.
- University Support: 63% of student entrepreneurs currently access university support, and 26% of student ventures are being incubated. Indian universities received high marks for fostering an entrepreneurship-friendly climate, rated 4.7 out of 7—the highest among leading startup ecosystems worldwide.
The GUESSS India 2023 Report was officially launched on October 18 at the ISBAcon 2024 conference in Hyderabad, organized by the Indian STEP and Business Incubators Association (ISBA). Speaking at the launch, Dr Puran Singh, lead author of the report, highlighted the importance of harnessing India’s vast youth population for entrepreneurship:
He said: “ We are already the third largest startup ecosystem in the world. We also have the largest youth population in the world. Harnessing youth’s entrepreneurial potential will be pivotal to our countries’ growth. But do our students have entrepreneurship on their mind? Do they want to take it up as a career? We have never had any data to understand our students’ entrepreneurial mindset.”
“GUESSS India 2023 Report, by bringing out this data, marks a pivotal moment for India’s student entrepreneurship landscape. We have a validation of humongous resources deployed by the government in promoting entrepreneurship from the top leadership of our country. The strong entrepreneurial intent and the robust pipeline of nascent ventures signal immense potential. Enablers working on the ground with the students have backed this data with their anecdotes during the report launch at ISBACON 2024. I aim to continue this dialogue and bring out more interesting trends from this unique Indian dataset,” he further added.
Dr. Suresh Kumar, President of ISBA, added: “The GUESSS India 2023 Report holds significant value for India’s startup ecosystem stakeholders, including universities, incubators, policymakers, and investors. The insights provided in the report reveal the underlying strengths and weaknesses of India’s student entrepreneurship environment, offering a roadmap for fostering and scaling student-led ventures. The report’s emphasis on the growing role of universities in promoting entrepreneurship and the need for tailored incubation support is timely and insightful. It will help us as an association to inform policy decisions aimed at nurturing India’s entrepreneurial talent pool.”
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