32.5% of Indian college students already aspiring entrepreneurs, reveals ‘GUESSS’ Global Research Project

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaOctober 21, 2024

A survey by the GUESSS Global Research Project has revealed that 32.5% of Indian college students are already nascent entrepreneurs, a figure higher than the global average of 25.7%.

This indicates a growing momentum for entrepreneurship within Indian universities, likely spurred by various policy initiatives in India. 14% of Indian students plan to become founders immediately on graduation, closely aligning with the global average of 15.7%.

Notably, 31.4% of students intend to pursue entrepreneurship five years after graduating, compared to a global average of 30%. The survey, conducted from November 2023-February 2024, received 13,896 student responses from hundreds of higher education institutions across India.

The report offers a detailed understanding of the entrepreneurial ambitions and actions of Indian students, providing a robust foundation for assessing the student entrepreneurship landscape in India.

The findings are significant for India’s startup ecosystem stakeholders, including universities, incubators, policymakers, and investors.

India’s startup ecosystem and youth population are the third largest in the world, and harnessing their entrepreneurial potential is crucial for the country’s growth. However, there is a lack of data on students’ entrepreneurial mindset. The GUESSS India 2023 Report, launched at ISBACON 2024, provides valuable insights into the country’s student entrepreneurship landscape.

The report highlights the strengths and weaknesses of India’s student entrepreneurship environment, offering a roadmap for fostering and scaling student-led ventures. The report emphasizes the growing role of universities in promoting entrepreneurship and the need for tailored incubation support.

The report will help inform policy decisions aimed at nurturing India’s entrepreneurial talent pool.

Elaborating on the key findings of this report, Dr. Puran Singh, lead author of the report and Associate Professor at School of Management, IIT Mandi, 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 country’s 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.”

Dr Singh added, “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.