Women founders account for 52.6% of startups surveyed in Assam, IIMCIP report

Guwahati, Sept 24: Assam’s startup ecosystem is showing strong entrepreneurial participation across sectors, with women founders accounting for more than half of the startups surveyed.

As the ecosystem evolves, the next opportunity lies in helping more ventures build sustainable and scalable businesses, according to the Assam Startup Ecosystem Report by IIM Calcutta Innovation Park (IIMCIP).

Based on primary research covering 116 startups across Assam, the IIMCIP report examines the State’s emerging startup landscape, the maturity of its ventures, the opportunities and challenges faced by entrepreneurs and the interventions required to build a stronger and more connected ecosystem.

The startups surveyed represent a diverse range of sectors, including agriculture and food, IT and technology, handloom and handicrafts, manufacturing and logistics, healthcare, education, tourism and hospitality, and construction and real estate. A notable feature of this entrepreneurial base is the strong participation of women, with 52.6 per cent of the startups surveyed having women founders. The report also captures ventures at different stages of development, reflecting the breadth of entrepreneurial activity across the State.

Access to institutional capital emerged as one of the key areas to address. Around 67.9 per cent of startups surveyed identified a dearth of institutional funding as a major systemic challenge, pointing to the need to broaden funding pathways and improve connections between startups and sources of capital.

At the individual level, 60.3 per cent of entrepreneurs cited a lack of business knowledge, 58.6 per cent highlighted limited awareness and exposure to the startup ecosystem, and 43.1 per cent pointed to a lack of technology know-how.

The report recommends addressing these areas through entrepreneurship education, stronger mentor and professional service networks, industry-academia collaboration, B2B networking and exposure platforms, improved technology infrastructure and local tech support, while strengthening market linkages for emerging ventures.

With startups emerging across diverse sectors and an increasing number looking beyond the State, a more connected ecosystem can help Assam strengthen its position as a source of entrepreneurship, innovation and enterprise-led development, Ajay Jain, Chairman, IIM Calcutta Innovation Park Board, said.

To translate these findings into action, the report recommends stronger investor networks and alternative funding pathways, sector-focused support, deeper industry-academia collaboration, specialised R&D infrastructure and improved market linkages. It also calls for entrepreneurship education and professional business support to strengthen the capabilities of emerging founders.

Building on these recommendations, IIMCIP has proposed a four-stage approach spanning Outreach & Hunt, Pre-Incubation, Incubation and Acceleration. The approach is designed to provide relevant support at different points in the entrepreneurial journey, from identifying and validating opportunities to building, strengthening and scaling ventures.