Assessing the Youth Entrepreneurship Ecosystem in India

Youth entrepreneurship is increasingly recognised as a pathway to employment, innovation, inclusive growth and local economic development. India’s large young population and rapidly growing startup ecosystem create significant potential for youth-led enterprise. However, access to the opportunities and support needed to pursue entrepreneurship remains uneven, particularly for marginalised and non-urban youth.

The Youth Entrepreneurship Divide study, undertaken by Forion Analytics in partnership with the Inqui-Lab Foundation in collaboration with UNICEF, sought to understand this gap more closely. The study examined young people’s entrepreneurial aspirations and readiness, the barriers they face at different stages of the entrepreneurial journey, and the role of the wider ecosystem in enabling or constraining progression. It also examined existing support systems and the constraints that limit young people’s ability to pursue and sustain entrepreneurial pathways.

The study aimed to build a clearer understanding of what drives entrepreneurial interest, what prevents young people from progressing from ideation to implementation and growth, and how factors such as geography, gender, institutional support, mentorship, networks and access to finance shape these pathways. The findings were intended to inform more targeted and inclusive approaches to strengthening youth entrepreneurship ecosystems, particularly across Tier 2 and Tier 3 regions, where entrepreneurship may be perceived as a higher-risk pathway and where access to entrepreneurial support can be more limited.

Forion's Role

Forion Analytics partnered with the Inqui-Lab Foundation in collaboration with UNICEF to examine the factors shaping youth entrepreneurship, identifying capability gaps, stage-specific barriers and ecosystem-level constraints affecting young entrepreneurs.

Our Approach

Forion's assessment focused on:

• Mapping the entrepreneurial pathways — from early exposure and ideation to implementation and scaling.
• Stage-specific barriers — identifying how support needs change as ventures develop. 
• Assessing the ecosystem — examining the role of educational institutions, incubation, industry linkages and support networks.
• Regional disparities — understanding how differences in ecosystem density influence entrepreneurial outcomes.
• Translating evidence into action — developing recommendations for government, academic institutions and ecosystem partners.

Key Insights

The assessment highlighted that:

• Aspiration does not always translate into progression: Young people show strong entrepreneurial interest, but progression from ideation to implementation and growth is constrained by different barriers at different stages.
• Geography shapes opportunity: Entrepreneurial progression varies across Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 contexts, with stronger entrepreneurial ecosystems and institutional density creating greater access to incubation, industry linkages, mentorship and capital.
• Women face an enablement gap: The challenge is not entrepreneurial motivation, but visibility, procedural clarity and access to capital and mentorship networks, with women less represented in innovation-driven and technology-oriented pathways.
• Support must be designed as a pathway: Moving towards sustainable entrepreneurship requires contextual exposure, adaptive skilling and de-risked early capital, supported by appropriate institutional and ecosystem linkages rather than isolated interventions.

Broader Takeaway

Strengthening youth entrepreneurship requires moving beyond standalone training or awareness initiatives towards stage-specific and ecosystem-based support that responds to the realities of young entrepreneurs across different contexts.

Forion's work demonstrates how research, stakeholder perspectives and ecosystem analysis can inform practical strategies across the entrepreneurial journey — from early exposure and capability building to mentorship, access to capital and enterprise growth — while addressing the regional and gender-based disparities that shape access to opportunity.