India’s Startup Boom Lacks Commercialization: Bridging Awareness of IP Policies May Be The Solution
Theresa Yu | Sofia Silva
Intellectual property protection plays a crucial role in fostering startup growth, functioning as a core institutional driver of innovation by signaling credible ownership over technology and lowering the risks perceived by early-stage investors. Between 2010 and 2015, India’s startup landscape entered a period of explosive growth, fueled by a dramatic rise in internet penetration and sustained by a strong consumer base. In response to this startup boom, the Indian government simplified its patent application process. Although India possesses a comprehensive IP legal framework and one of the world’s fastest growing startup ecosystems, the country’s comparatively low patent rates point to a disconnect between formal protections and entrepreneurs’ awareness of how to leverage them. This awareness gap leaves money on the table in India, as patents are proven to increase the profitability of innovation. India might draw lessons from Singapore—widely regarded for having one of the most robust IP rights regimes in Asia—and adopt more proactive public engagement initiatives to increase awareness of its own IP policies and their benefits.
Although India’s startup ecosystem is approximately forty times the size of Singapore’s, its comparatively low R&D-to-GDP ratio highlights underlying structural weaknesses that may inhibit innovation. The R&D-to-GDP ratio measures how much a country invests in research and development (R&D) relative to the size of its economy (GDP). India’s ratio is especially low at 0.64% of its GDP, compared to its peers: China at 2.41%, the US at 3.47%, and Singapore at 2.16%. The discrepancy between India’s high volume of startups to its minimal R&D investment highlights a gap in the country’s innovation pipeline, suggesting a low transformation rate from scientific research into commercially viable innovation. As such, examining what Singapore is doing differently than India can help illuminate the institutional bottlenecks that may be hindering India’s commercialization efficiency.
India does not lack supportive IP policies compared to Singapore. However, a 2023 survey found that India scored significantly lower than its Asia-Pacific peers on public and enterprise awareness of these policies. This survey built on a 2019 study in which authors identified that Indian small and medium-sized enterprises faced challenges in understanding and leveraging IP laws. Singapore’s IP regime is distinguished from India’s due to the additional steps the nation has taken for a structural awareness of their conducive policies. For instance, Singapore launched a 10-year national blueprint and hosts annual IP-week conferences to help enterprises strengthen their IP knowledge. As such, Singapore’s higher R&D to GDP ratio could very well be explained by its more effective engagement with the public in increasing awareness of their IP policies.
In conclusion, India’s startup environment might be strengthened by increasing general awareness of the IP policies that benefit founders. India might follow in Singapore’s footsteps and actively seek out public engagement with IP-teaching programs. In doing so, India would be able to more effectively translate research and technological advancements into patented, commercialized products potentially transforming the sustained economic growth of India’s large startup environment.
Theresa Yu (CC ’28) is a writer for the Columbia Emerging Markets Review and a member of CEMS’ East Asia subcommittee. She is studying mathematics & philosophy, and is broadly interested in the intersection of technology, economics, and investing.
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