New Delhi, May 21 (IANS): Indian startups have come a long way in the last 5 to 10 years and the government's Startup India programme and several other initiatives "played a pivotal role in getting us to where we are", Urban Company co-founder Abhiraj Singh Bhal has said.

During an interaction, Bhal told IANS, "When I started 10 years back, we were a small ecosystem and the country had only one unicorn. Today, we are a very large ecosystem, one of the largest in the world. The country now has more than 110 unicorns".

As of May 2024, the Indian Startup Ecosystem, ranking third worldwide in terms of unicorn count, is collectively valued at $349.67 billion.

Speaking at the 'Vishesh Sampark Abhiyan', the co-founder said that the Startup India initiative helped "us brainstorm for hours and create a highly conducive startup ecosystem".

Bhal also stressed that in the times to come the opportunities are huge for India and the Indian startup system will "only grow from here".

Meanwhile, a recent report by Tracxn, a leading market intelligence platform, showed that India secured the third position globally in terms of funding raised for the fintech sector in the first quarter (Q1) of this year.

Total funding received by the fintech sector grew by 59 per cent in Q1 2024, compared to Q4 2023, emphasising the robustness of the Indian fintech landscape amid a dynamic economic environment.