Kunal Bahl has seen all sides of India’s entrepreneurial journey. He’d started off by co-founding Snapdeal, but then went on to become a VC and founded Titan Capital. Bahl’s second innings as VC ended up being even more successful than his first, and his company ended up backing several prominent startups including OfBusiness, Razorpay and Mamaearth. Bahl has also seen his companies go public, including Unicommerce, and has also appeared as a Shark on the latest season of Shark Tank.
Bahl has now written a thread on X, urging Indian entrepreneurs to set up their companies in India instead of the US or Singapore. There has been a recent trend of many startups like PhonePe, Meesho and others reverse flipping back to India, and Bahl says this is not only patriotic, but also the rational course of action for entrepreneurs.
Here’s his X post in its entirety:
For years, Indian founders thought incorporating in the US or Singapore made fundraising and exits easier. In 2025, thatโs outdated. Today, incorporating in India isnโt just patrioticโitโs pragmatic.
- ๐ก๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐น๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ป๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐ โ You donโt need an overseas entity for easier fundraising ability. Indian investors now back all kinds of startups, including DeepTech and AI and one doesn’t need to find investors overseas to fund these spaces.
- ๐ง๐ฎ๐
& ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ด๐๐น๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ถ๐y โ India now offers startup-friendly tax policies, DPIIT benefits, and simplified compliance, unlike US/Singapore structures, which often create double taxation issues.
- ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฎ ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ โ If your customers, revenue, and operations are in India, local incorporation simplifies compliance, contracts, and access to government incentives. Also, you can easily sell as an Indian company to the world by setting up an overseas subsidiary. Infosys does it and so can you.
- ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐
๐ถ๐๐ โ The success of IPOs like Zomato, Nykaa, Unicommerce proves that Indian markets are ready. If you plan to list in India, incorporating here avoids costly “flipping” later.
- ๐๐๐ผ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ด๐๐น๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐๐๐น๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฎ๐ฑ โ US/Singapore incorporation seems easy initially but brings long-term compliance headaches, legal costs, and money repatriation issues.
- ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐๐๐ โ Indian Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) need SEBI approvals to invest in overseas entities, limiting access to domestic institutional capital. You will lock out most of the Indian VC capital by incorporating overseas!
- ๐๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ป๐ด๐ฒ๐น๐ โ Many Indian angels canโt invest significant amounts in overseas startups due to RBIโs LRS limits, making early-stage fundraising harder if you incorporate abroad.
- ๐๐ฒ๐๐ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐น โ Pitching to Indian VCs means competing with other Indian startups. In the US, you are competing globally for capital, making fundraising harder for yourself.
For Indian startups in 2025, the choice is clear: Incorporate in India, build in India, win in and from India.