Are you beginning your startup journey in this city? We’ve got something for you.
At Plum, we’re always talking to Founders like you who want to build the best teams and products. That’s why they take the giant leap of moving to a new city — one that matches their aspirations.
But, navigating a new city’s ecosystem while running a business and maintaining a social life can be tricky. In this guide, we’ve compiled everything you should know about Mumbai’s tech, startup, and life beyond the work scene.
📣 If you have any recommendations, resources, or information you’d like to contribute, please fill this form (it won’t take more than 2 minutes), and we’ll be happy to add.
Whether it's working with founders to create the right business and health insurance policies or building a resource kit to help you communicate with empathy — we help you put your needs first.
But our definition of care doesn't stop there. We built this guide to welcome you to a city that’s rapidly becoming a startup hub. Share this with your new and old team members, and if you have a relocation policy, linking this guide to help others navigate the same boat would be helpful! We built this to help you do just that.
If you'd like to learn more about Plum and what we're up to, visit our website.
P.S. If you already find this useful, give us a shoutout on Twitter.
But, why Mumbai yaar?
Mumbai is the third-largest startup hub in India. Most people are unaware that their favourite brands and apps like Dream11, BookMyShow, Zepto, Pepperfry, and more come from Mumbai. It’s also the city of Bollywood (the American Dream’s equivalent) where ideas manifest to life.
If you’re lucky to have lived in Mumbai, a part of that is going to stay with you no matter where you go.
An obscure fact about this city is that it’s home to a large share of the country’s unicorns and soonicorns. These are companies that are valued at $100 Mn or above. Deputy CM of Maharastra, Devendra Fadvanis, explained why this was the case:
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Mumbai is the only city in India which has a ‘start to finish’ for startups. Startups can get early stage funding here and then leverage private equity firms for late stage and public listings. Of course both the NSE and BSE are based in Mumbai, too. The VC ecosystem has been good with many firms having their offices here, but it definitely needs to be bolstered, because it is a crucial midpoint for startups between the early funding and the IPO.
Mumbai’s reputation as a cosmopolitan and safe city goes a long way towards attracting talent.
At the same time, this talent has the opportunity to take advantage of early and growth-stage startups and then move to late-stage startups for career growth.
Unfortunately, the cost of living and rental costs are incredibly high.
Nonetheless, Mumbai is a great city to live in. It hosts a lot of cultural events and has plenty third spaces for exploration.
It has still maintained its reputation as the ‘City of Dreams.’ So, if you’re planning a move to Mumbai or you’re already here, we hope this guide helps.
Where are all the founders and their teams hanging out?
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Mumbai’s accelerators, incubators, and startup programs to boost your 0-1 startup journey.
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A curated list of active and popular VCs, recommended by other startup founders in Mumbai
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Journalists covering the tech and startup beat in Mumbai
Connect with people who’ve been active in Mumbai’s start-up and tech scene
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Places you and your team can work from + spaces where other founders are likely to set up their workstation
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Here’s a list of 20 top co-working spaces in Mumbai.
We filtered this list based on Google reviews and chose the ones rated 4.2 ⭐ and above. Best if you’re a lean team, building up from scratch.
P.S. The following prices are an average and not the exact quote you might receive from vendors. This is a disclaimer that there could be price discrepancies depending on the location you choose and demand vs supply.
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💡Ideal to invest in working out of a tech park if you’ve crossed 300+ employees in scale. It also becomes cost-effective when compared to co-working spaces.
☕ Cafes across Mumbai where you can plug in your earphones, get your to-do list, and work on your laptop uninterrupted for hours.
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👥 Cafes and restaurants suitable for a catch-up with your co-founder(s), investors, and other external stakeholders/clients.
🍱 Restaurants to take your team out for a bite or drink or both!
🚧 P.S. The following breakdown is a subjective POV. We also advise our readers to conduct their own research before making a final choice.
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Are you nervous about making new friends in a new city? Don’t worry, we got you covered.
Here’s a curated list of communities, groups, and places in Mumbai where you’re likely to meet people interested in the same things as you.
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This playlist was made by a kind stranger on the internet. If you’re around the Marine Drive, play this music for yourself and share it with others.
We hope this guide is full of information that has been useful in your Mumbai startup journey.
Consider this a V1 and if you have any recommendations, resources, or information you’d like to contribute, please fill this form, and we’ll be happy to add.
Plum is a modern-day insurtech, providing benefits and insurance for companies that care.
Our mission is to accelerate the adoption of health insurance in India by making employee health insurance and benefits accessible, affordable, and usable for employees.
We also provide exclusive business insurance plans to help startups mitigate risk, enabling founders to go forth with courageous and ambitious bets.
If you’re a founder who wants to cover your team and business with the best care and benefits, visit our website.
P.S. We’d like to extend our gratitude to Sajith Pai, Rahul Sanghi, Ashish Bijlani, Shriya Shah, and Dhwani Nanavati for helping us build this out.
