Across India’s bustling startup ecosystem you’ll see many familiar playbooks, an on-demand app, a marketplace, or a fintech product that looks a lot like something that already succeeded in the US, China or Europe. That isn’t always bad execution, local distribution and regulatory know-how matter but it helps explain why India produces fewer category-defining products than some other large markets.
Copy, localize, scale: a common pattern
Many founders opt to adapt proven models because it reduces risk. Recreating a business model that already has product-market fit elsewhere makes it easier to raise early capital, hire engineers with standard skill sets, and show traction to investors. Observers and commentators have pointed out this “replica” trend in India’s ecosystem, noting the gap between imitation and original product innovation.
China shows a different playbook: creating new categories
Contrast that with examples from China, where companies didn’t just copy, they reimagined how products are bundled. Tencent’s WeChat evolved from messaging into a “super-app” that combines chat, payments, commerce and services in one platform, a move that created whole new user behaviour patterns.
Hardware + ecosystem = deeper moats
Companies like Xiaomi built not just phones but an integrated hardware and services ecosystem, linking devices, software and internet services to increase user stickiness and cross-sell opportunities. Recent moves (including Xiaomi’s investments in chip design) show how ecosystem bets can become sources of global competitive advantage.
Funding incentives shape founder choices
Investor expectations also influence what founders build. For years, growth-at-all-costs funding favoured rapid scale and user acquisition over deep R&D; when capital rewarded speed and visible metrics, founders often chose faster, lower-risk copy/adapt strategies. Recent shifts toward profitability are nudging some startups to invest more in product differentiation, but the legacy of funding incentives remains strong.
Not all is copy-paste, sparks of original innovation exist
India is not devoid of original innovation, there are deeptech labs, AI startups building local language models, and hardware product companies emerging from incubators. However, these tend to get less attention and require longer horizons and patient capital to scale. Encouraging more genuine innovation will need coordinated policy support, R&D incentives, and investors willing to back longer timeframes.
Next Steps for Innovation in India
Copying proven ideas and adapting them to India helped build a fast, scaled ecosystem but to create global category leaders India must balance smart execution with sustained investments in original product and systems R&D.
Also Read: Things First-Time entrepreneurs Should Do in India
