India has third-largest ecosystem for start-ups: Nasscom Official

India has the third-largest ecosystem for start-ups in the world and the number of such firms is growing significantly, an official said on Tuesday.

Nasscom Centre of Excellence for internet of things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) CEO Sanjeev Malhotra said most of the start-ups are on the application side, while a lot of work has also been done in the field of software-aided services.

"The number of start-ups is growing significantly in the country with ten per cent being added every year. There has been significant growth in the number of companies and funding organisations which are attributing to this cause," he said.

But there is a need to build start-ups in areas of core research, Malhotra said.

The centre of excellence is the largest tech innovation ecosystem in the country, comprising start-ups, innovators, enterprises and the government.

More unicorns are in the making in the country, he said, adding that the "funding pattern is getting healthier". In business terms, a unicorn is a privately held start-up company valued at over USD1 billion.

The National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) has been providing the necessary ecosystem for nurturing start-ups, he added.