Going beyond services, cybersecurity start-ups are innovating to build product-led platforms for global markets
India’s cybersecurity start-ups are increasingly eyeing opportunities beyond plain-vanilla services. Amid rising digitisation, the complexity of AI-driven threats and new data protection regulations such as the DPDP Act, founders are building product-led platforms covering cloud security, identity and threat detection, often keeping global markets in sight from the start.
They, however, face two distinct challenges: Building enough trust and capability to compete with global incumbents, and securing the long-term investment needed to mature into independent, global entities, rather than becoming acquisition targets.
India currently has over 400 cybersecurity product companies. The sector has grown rapidly from $1.05 billion to $2.05 billion over the last five years, at a 34 per cent compound annual growth rate, according to the Data Security Council of India (DSCI).
“DSCI’s ‘Cyber security product landscape report 3.0’ highlights that about 55 per cent of product companies’ revenue comes from global markets. They are giving more emphasis to IPs, and the architectures are increasingly a hybrid of software and hardware,” Vinayak Godse, Chief Executive Officer of DSCI, says. “The Indian security start-up ecosystem would have to chart an aggressive journey for the platformisation of its capabilities,” he adds.
Glocal strengths
The domestic ecosystem remains centred in Bengaluru, Pune, Delhi and Mumbai. Internationally, North America, West Asia and Southeast Asia have emerged as significant markets for Indian cybersecurity products.
Manish Chachada, Chief Operating Officer and Co-founder of cybersecurity startup Cyble, believes that the ecosystem has matured considerably. “What’s encouraging is the shift from services-led models to genuine product innovation — start-ups are building differentiated platforms in identity management, cloud-native security and behavioural threat detection that can compete on the global stage,” he says.
He adds that clients insist on receiving contextual, actionable threat intelligence for their specific geography and industry vertical.
“The dark web isn’t monolithic — threat actors targeting Indian BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance) operate differently from those focused on manufacturing or healthcare. The localised understanding gives Indian start-ups a distinct advantage in their home market, but it also makes global expansion challenging,” he points out.
Bottlenecks
Nearly 39 per cent of Indian cybersecurity companies have secured external funding. “Most of the funded companies received capital within two years of inception, indicating strong early-stage investment appetite. Over 110 patents were filed in 2024-25, showcasing active innovation and IP development,” the DSCI report stated.
For start-ups, the real bottleneck isn’t technical capability — it’s the need to establish enterprise trust. “Security isn’t sold, it’s earned through proven incident response, rigorous compliance certifications and consistent delivery. Indian start-ups often underestimate the length of enterprise sales cycles and the investment required in customer success infrastructure,” Chachada observes.
Echoing this, GT Venkateshwar Rao, Managing Director of Posidex Technologies, points out that a new generation of Indian founders is building ambitious, product-led platforms focused on the global stage from day one, rather than merely patching existing problems. But the road ahead is far from smooth.
“These entrepreneurs aren’t just fighting hackers — they’re fighting for trust, which is the most valuable currency in security. They have to work incredibly hard to convince businesses to choose them over established global brands — giants that can pour 100 times more money into a single marketing campaign. It’s an uphill battle where clever innovation and sheer grit are the only weapons that can level the playing field,” he says.
Consolidation ahead
Chachada anticipates strategic consolidation across specific verticals. “Indian companies will likely dominate categories where regional expertise matters — supply chain security for manufacturing, digital payment fraud or infrastructure protection. However, many will become acquisition targets rather than independent global players,” he observes.
Kiran Vangaveti, Founder-CEO of cybersecurity startup Blu Sapphire, concurs.
“This story is about what is fuelling the growth of the Indian start-ups, how they are winning enterprise trust, and whether they can scale up into global security players or will be absorbed by larger incumbents,” he says.
Venkat Madala, Founder of Ciberts, argues that most big-tech players offer generic, one-size-fits-all AI security solutions that largely address only the most common and known risks such as prompt injection, data leakage, model abuse and insider threats.
“This approach often leaves enterprises with limited control and creates a growing trust gap. Start-ups like ours win by being fast, focused and deeply aligned with customer needs. We respond to new threats in hours, not weeks, and onboard customers with a lean, high-touch support model,” he says.
Indian start-ups are seen as uniquely positioned to adapt quickly, innovate continuously and deliver secure-by-design AI systems. Enterprises choose start-ups because they provide not just AI capability, but also agility and the security control needed in an AI-first world.
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Published on February 16, 2026
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