Indian startup founders are increasingly aspiring to build companies worth $50 billion or even $100 billion, a shift that is prompting venture capital firms such as Peak XV Partners to take bigger risks, according to its Managing Director Mohit Bhatnagar.
During a fireside chat with Shradha Sharma, Founder and CEO of YourStory and The Bharat Project, at TechSparks 2026 in Bengaluru, Bhatnagar said the success of companies such as Zomato and the growing acceptance of startups in India's public markets have fundamentally changed what founders and investors believe is possible.
Bhatnagar was gungo-ho about the ambition and aspiration of Indian founders which has grown multifold over the years. "The startup ecosystem is in a much better place today than it was 20 years back. The biggest difference is in ambition," he said.
According to him, the ambition of startup founders is at a different level now than what was seen in the past. Bhatnagar, who has two decades of experience as a venture capitalist, sees ambition from Indian startups only getting bigger going forward.
Peak XV is one of the leading venture capital firms in the country with investment bets spread across sectors, including companies such as Zomato and Meesho.
Bhatnagar said Peak XV has had about 37 IPOs in the country, and 22 of them have happened in the last five years.
“The total market cap of all startups that have gone public in India today is somewhere around $170 billion. That number, by the way, used to be 1/10 or much smaller than that 10 years back,” Bhatnagar remarked and added that public markets are embracing startups like never before.
“The Indian public markets in the last five years have truly been a massive blessing to the entire startup ecosystem,” he remarked.
There have also been other changes across the world, driven by artificial intelligence (AI).
Bhatnagar believes AI can be a big advantage for a country like India. “AI tools are now available to everybody. Everyone here should be dreaming about building a company that is rooted in India and really think global,” he said.
He emphasised that every founder should leverage the AI opportunity to build global companies. He highlighted that, as the cost of tokens fall over a period of time, consumer AI applications will be unleashed across sectors such as health, financial services, and education.
He was also of the firm opinion that AI will bring in efficiency as smaller teams will be able to quickly come out with better solutions.
At the same time, he said, there is no easy yardstick to identify the right companies. Founders need to sustain their hard work to build a durable business, which might take even a decade.
Bhatnagar said India remains a very attractive destination for investors seeking to back startup founders. “I really hope we now see a 10x unleashing of entrepreneurial energy because it's become so much easier to launch a product, to try it in the marketplace, than ever before. You don't need as much capital.”
Edited by Swetha Kannan