📰 News Summary: Suhel Seth Criticizes Indian Startups for Copying Western Models

Suhel Seth, Managing Partner at Counselage India, has sharply criticized the Indian startup ecosystem, stating that most Indian startups are mere replicas of Western business models and lack genuine innovation.

In a recent statement, Seth attributed this trend to several factors:

Social pressures that discourage risk-taking

Risk aversion among entrepreneurs

The absence of a robust support ecosystem that fosters long-term innovation and original thinking

Despite India’s large talent pool and rapidly growing digital infrastructure, Seth argued that the country has failed to produce global tech giants like Facebook or Google. Instead, startups are often focused on replicating already proven foreign ideas rather than building solutions tailored for Indian needs.

Seth also pointed to the need for system-level improvements, such as introducing a unified emergency healthcare number across India, which would be a genuinely innovative and impactful public service reform.

His comments have sparked debate within the entrepreneurial community. Some founders have echoed his concerns about lack of originality, while others defended Indian startups by highlighting their rapid growth, localization, and resilience in a complex market.