60% of startups may fail as they can't scale up amid lack of market: Pai

All startups have a bright future, but 60 per cent of them may fail owing to lack of market and other factors, according to IT veteran T V Mohandas Pai.

The former Infosys director said India has about 30,000 startups employing about 350,000 - 400,000 people and every year about 5,000-6,000 such ventures are sprouting.

"Last year, we got about USD 13.65 billion funding (in startups). Today they have created about USD 95 billion of value", Pai told said in an interview.

He also said by 2025, there will be 100,000 active startups in India employing about 320,000 people.

According to him, Centre's Startup India policy coupled with policies of various states, IT initiatives, the success of Flipkart and others, have enthused more people.

All startups have bright future, Pai said, adding that those who work well succeed.

But the mortality rate is very high. About 60 per cent of them will fail. That is the nature of the industry, Pai said.

Pai, chairman of Manipal Global Education, believes that most startups may not scale up or get a market as they are all started by first time entrepreneurs.

First time entrepreneurs may not know how to tackle the business but the good news is that even if they fail the experience they get from building a business or becoming a problem solver is enormous, Pai said.