A new study on mental health in India’s startup ecosystem suggests that the people powering the sector are under far more strain than the usual conversation about founder burnout would indicate. Released before the World Mental Health Day, the report found that 47.5 per cent of respondents scored low on wellbeing.
Titled State of Mind: The Startup Ecosystem, the survey drew responses from 823 founders, employees, investors and ecosystem supporters. The researchers adapted the WHO’s Five-Item Well-Being Index and combined it with participants’ own assessments of how they were doing.
Employees bear the heaviest load
The numbers point to employees, not founders, as the group in the greatest difficulty. More than half of employees (54.3 per cent) landed in the low-wellbeing bracket. Investors came next at 45.2 per cent, followed by ecosystem supporters at 44.2 per cent and founders at 42.9 per cent.
Why speaking up matters
The factor most closely tied to wellbeing was psychological safety, meaning whether a person can admit to struggling at work without worrying about consequences. Roughly 35 per cent of respondents (34.8 per cent) said they did not feel safe doing so.
Among employees who felt unsafe, 88.3 per cent had low wellbeing scores, compared with 26.7 per cent of those who felt secure. The authors cautioned that the data shows an association, not a cause.
Distress that goes unnoticed
Many people may not realise they are struggling. Of the 391 respondents with low scores, over a third (35.3 per cent) described themselves as thriving or doing okay. Meanwhile, just 15.1 per cent of all respondents had sought professional help.
What it means for business
The report links poor wellbeing to practical costs: founders quitting, more sick leave, and employees changing jobs. It recommends anonymous wellbeing checks, confidential internal and external support, manager training, protected time off, and greater investor involvement, including wellbeing in due diligence.