Towns, small cities contribute nearly 35% of Uttar Pradesh's total startups

UP - with more than 14,000 startups - is among India's leading startup ecosystems

Startups, Indian startups
Noida leads the startup count with around 3,418 firms, followed by Lucknow with 1,889, Ghaziabad with 1,582, and Kanpur with 586. | Image: Shutterstock
Virendra Singh Rawat Lucknow
2 min read Last Updated : Apr 03 2025 | 5:29 PM IST
Towns and smaller cities in Uttar Pradesh (UP) now make up around 35 per cent of startups in the state. 
 
UP – with more than 14,000 startups – is among India’s leading startup ecosystems.
 
The state’s 17 big cities administered by municipal corporations are home to nearly 10,000 startups. Smaller towns in UP account for the remaining 4,000.
 
Noida leads the startup count with around 3,418 firms, followed by Lucknow with 1,889, Ghaziabad with 1,582, and Kanpur with 586.
 
Some leading startups incorporated in UP are Pine Labs, Spice Money, Paytm Payments Bank, Advisorymandi, OneCode, Wishfin, GramCover, Marquee Equity, and Buddy4Study.
 
These startups have created more than 100,000 job opportunities in the state. UP has the fourth-most number of startups in the country after Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Delhi.
 
“The growing number of startups in UP is a testimony to the marked improvement in the business ecosystem and proactive policies being pursued by the Yogi Adityanath government,” a senior official said.
 
Nearly 50 per cent of registered startups, as recognised by the department for promotion of industry and internal trade in UP are either founded or cofounded by women.
 
Since UP aspires to become a $1 trillion economy by 2027, the Yogi government is revisiting industry-related policies and framing new ones to simplify rules and procedures to promote businesses.

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Topics :Yogi AdityanathUttar Pradeshstartup ecosystemjob programmesUP government

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