An Assessment of Competitiveness of Technology-Based Startups in India

This paper examines the role played by the entrepreneurial, firm-specific and external environment-related parameters in impacting the competitiveness of Indian high-tech start-ups, considering start-up survival as a milestone and using survival analysis techniques for the analysis. The study uses primary data collected from 175 Indian high-tech start-ups that are headquartered across the country, using a semi-structured questionnaire and in-depth interviews with the top-level management of the sample firms for analysis. Among the firm-related factors, sales and R&D capabilities of the start-ups have shown to be of paramount importance in influencing the competitiveness of high-tech start-ups. Further, among the external environment-specific attributes, the SDP growth in the region is shown to have significant influence on the competitiveness of high-tech start-ups (borderline significant). This paper makes a key contribution to the existing literature by empirically identifying the key entrepreneur-specific, firm-specific and external environment-specific factors of a firm that influence the competitiveness of high-tech start-ups that are in pre-growth stage in a developing economy. The findings of the study will help start-up owners and policy-makers to make adjustments in their policy-making and strategy to enhance the competitiveness of the technology-based startups operating in India. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42943-021-00023-x.