Hits and misses in the Indian startup universe

Indian start-ups as a group have struggled to deliver returns to investors—public listings and big buyouts haven’t materialized. It’s too early to say for sure which bets have worked for venture capital firms. But after more than a decade of investments, some niches are clearly showing more promise than others. For instance, e-commerce (led by Flipkart) and digital payments (led by Paytm) look attractive on paper. In the next rung, software providers for businesses and hyperlocal start-ups are gradually proving to be attractive investments. Mint looks at various niches since 2007 that investors have favoured. In all, investors have poured more than $22 billion into these niches, according to data from start-up tracker Tracxn.