During a fireside chat with the ETtech editor Samidha Sharma, Goyal said, “Last I was in Bengaluru in 2017, seven years ago…. You don’t need to come here to build a startup. That’s just what people here think, but it’s not the case.”
The response garnered a laugh from Infosys chairman and cofounder Nandan Nilekani who has in the past championed Bengaluru as the best city for entrepreneurs. Nilekani, also the jury chair for this year’s awards, had said in an interview in 2021 that innovation is in the bloodstream of the city and its culture attracts talent.
Goyal’s remark also reignites a long-standing debate in the country about which city is the hub of the startup ecosystem. Unacademy chief executive Gaurav Munjal sparked a conversation on X in April this year, declaring that “Bengaluru should be the only city that founders should consider while thinking of starting their own companies”.
Bengaluru has been seen as the dominant force in India’s startup ecosystem, also called the Silicon Valley of India, birthing major startups of the country. However, New Delhi has gained ground in recent years, with a growing number of startups from there exploring public market listings. Apart from Zomato, New Delhi-based Paytm, Delhivery and Policybazaar have been among new-age companies to list on the bourses in the past three years.
Goyal attended the tenth edition of the ET Startup Awards in Bengaluru on Saturday, where he spoke about Zomato’s journey so far, changes after the IPO and Shark Tank appearance.
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