This article is more than 2 years old.

May 12, 2016 This article is more than 2 years old.

Contrary to popular perception, an average Indian entrepreneur isn’t a 25-year-old who’s graduated from an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT).

An average technology entrepreneur in Asia’s third-largest economy is a male aged between 28 and 29. By the time his venture gets funded, he is over 32, according to data from Delhi-based startup Xeler8.

Xeler8, which curates data on other startups, analysed over 2,300 firms for this study. The sample startups operate in various sectors, including e-commerce, food technology, fintech, healthcare, agriculture technology, ad technology, data analytics, and gaming. The sample also includes large players like Flipkart, OYO Rooms, Snapdeal, and MuSigma.

Educational profile

Almost 50% of Indian entrepreneurs are graduates, and many of them hold post graduation degrees.

However, contrary to the commonly held belief, most do not hold degrees from premium educational institutes such as IITs or the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs). In fact, graduates from premium schools form a very small percent of entrepreneurs in India.

Gender

Entrepreneurship in India—just like in Silicon Valley—is heavily male-dominated. Less than 9% of startup founders in India are women.