Data from Tracxn shows only 79 IIT alumni and 20 IIM alumni established tech startups between January and August, down substantially from 307 and 71 founders in 2025. Concurrently, overall nationwide incorporations climbed to 6,353 through August, eclipsing the 3,969 recorded during the entirety of 2025. Venture capital investors note that credentialed graduates prefer secure, high-paying corporate roles in artificial intelligence over early-stage entrepreneurial risks. Tracxn cofounder Neha Singh noted that recent registration tallies remain preliminary and may increase as filings conclude.
Key points
Founders from elite Indian colleges are increasingly choosing secure AI-related corporate…: Founders from elite Indian colleges are increasingly choosing secure AI-related corporate jobs over startup ventures.
Lower costs from no-code platforms and artificial intelligence tools are accelerating bro…: Lower costs from no-code platforms and artificial intelligence tools are accelerating broader entrepreneurial activity across India.
Registration statistics for 2026 remain preliminary and are expected to adjust upward as…: Registration statistics for 2026 remain preliminary and are expected to adjust upward as official company filings finalize.
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Only 79 IIT alumni and 20 IIM alumni launched new tech startups between January and August this year, compared to 307 IIT graduates and 71 IIM graduates who founded startups in the entire 2025, according to Tracxn data collated for ET. The platform tracks only the year of incorporation for tech startups, so it does not have comparable January-August 2025 data.
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Further, according to Tracxn data, 6,353 tech startups were founded until August this year, compared with 3,969 in the whole of 2025.
"The increase in the number of startups being founded is a positive sign, but the real question is who is making that transition. The fact that we are not seeing a meaningful increase in founders from the IITs and IIMs suggests there is still a large, untapped pool of talent," said Vikram Gupta, founder and managing partner, IvyCap Ventures.
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