Bengaluru Sees Strong Rise in Women-Led Startups & Funding

By: WE staff | Thursday, 20 November 2025

• Bengaluru has witnessed rapid growth in the case of women-led startups
• Between 2010 and 2025, the city recorded about 668 startups founded by women
• These startups drew in roughly $13.4 billion in total funding

Bengaluru has increasingly established itself as a leading entrepreneurial hub in India, particularly amongst women founders.

The Bengaluru Innovation Report 2025 published by Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM), 3One4 Capital, and Startup Karnataka states "Bengaluru has 668 women-led startups that raised nearly $13.4 billion from 2010 to 2025."

In comparison, the same timeframe from 2010 to 2025 shows that women-led startups raised $10 billion across 712 startups in the Delhi-NCR region and Mumbai’s 465 startups raised $3.6 billion.

Total startup funding since 2010 in Bengaluru is $79 billion, the Delhi-NCR region is $46.5 billion, and Mumbai is $24 billion.

Additionally, the report states "Bengaluru is the 5th largest unicorn hub in the World behind Silicon Valley, New York, Beijing, and London."

Bengaluru has a total of 53 unicorns which is a combined valuation of $192 billion and 42 percent of India's total unicorn valuation.

Bengaluru also has 39 'soonicorns' which refer to high-growth startups with several in the top 3 (Delhi-NCR, 30; Mumbai, 21) raising a total of $16.3 billion.

The city's growth is supported by an abundance of talent. Bengaluru has about 2.5 million software professionals, the largest tech workforce of any city in the world.

A software worker's annual median salary is approximately $12,000, and with a home price-to-income ratio of 9.5 years, Bengaluru is among the more affordable major startup ecosystems for homebuyers.

According to Siddarth Pai, founding partner of 3One4 Capital, Bengaluru has the most unicorns per capita in India, and probably Asia as well.He highlighted the active emphasis on innovation in the city and mentioned that the state government is working to accelerate growth opportunities around the state of Karnataka.

Bengaluru takes in an estimated 150,000–200,000 new tech workers each year, which is approximately 40–45 percent of total tech hiring in India. Karnataka is home to about 50 percent of the AI/ML talent in India. About half of all engineering talent working in mid-market GCCs in India is located in and around that region.

Between 2020 and 2023, Bengaluru accounted for the highest number of patents filed in computer science, electronics and communications in India. Bengaluru has a strong presence in advanced sectors including chip design, aerospace, space technology, AI, quantum computing, and biotechnology.