India now has more than 2.23 lakh startups recognised by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). Over 55,200 of them were recognised in 2025–26 alone, the most in any single year since Startup India began in 2016 (Inc42). Behind every one of those companies is a founder, or a small team, carrying a great deal.
We talk a lot about funding rounds, valuations and growth. We talk far less about what building a company does to the people building it.
The pressure behind the pitch deck
Founders often carry several kinds of pressure at once:
- Money and uncertainty: runway, fundraising, investor expectations and the knowledge that salaries depend on your decisions
- Constant decision-making: hundreds of choices a week, many of them with incomplete information
- Long hours: work that follows you home, into weekends and into the middle of the night
- Relationships under strain: with co-founders, early employees and family
- Expectations at home: in many families, leaving a stable job to start a company is a decision that parents, spouses and relatives feel invested in too
None of this means something is wrong with you. It means you’re doing something demanding, and your wellbeing needs attention as much as your business does.
What the research tells us
In 2024, YourDOST published its Emotional Wellbeing of Entrepreneurs study with partners including NSRCEL at IIM Bangalore and TiE Global Summit. Coverage of the study reported that (CXOToday, Outlook Business):
- 33% of founders reported low wellbeing
- 31% experienced imposter syndrome, and it was more common among early-stage founders
- 48% said they had low community support
- 57% of early-stage founders reported high wellness, compared with 74% of founders with six or more years of experience
The pattern isn’t unique to India. In a study of 242 entrepreneurs published in Small Business Economics, Freeman and colleagues found that 49% reported having experienced a mental health condition (Springer).
Across India more widely, the National Mental Health Survey 2015–16 estimated that 10.6% of adults were living with a mental health condition. For most conditions, more than 60% of people who needed care were not receiving it (Ministry of Health and Family Welfare).
Why founders often don’t reach out
Founders are used to solving problems themselves. Many worry that admitting they’re struggling will look like weakness to investors, co-founders or their team. Others feel there simply isn’t time, or tell themselves that stress is “just part of the job”. Stigma around mental health still runs deep in many communities, which can make it harder to say “I’m not okay” out loud.
Yet looking after yourself is part of looking after your company. The person making the big decisions deserves support too.
What support can look like
Support doesn’t have to wait for a crisis. For many founders, it starts with a regular, confidential space to think out loud with someone who isn’t an investor, an employee or a family member. Mindfulness-based approaches can offer practical ways to notice stress as it builds, pause before reacting, and make room to switch off. Counselling can help you make sense of self-doubt, conflict with a co-founder, or the strain that building a business places on the people closest to you.
Small steps you can take this week
- Protect your sleep where you can. Decisions made exhausted are harder to make well.
- Build short pauses into your day: a few slow breaths between meetings, or a short walk without your phone.
- Set a time each evening when work stops, even if it’s later than you’d like.
- Talk honestly with one person you trust about how you’re really doing.
- Find other founders. Peer groups and founder communities can make the load feel less lonely.
How VK Therapy can help
VK Therapy offers Mindfulness and Wellbeing Support for Startup Founders and Entrepreneurs. It combines mindfulness-based techniques with person-centred counselling, working at your pace and focusing on what matters to you. One-to-one sessions are available online, so founders anywhere in India can take part. Sessions are available in English, Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi and Telugu. Group mindfulness lessons are also available.
If you’d like to talk about whether this could help, you can book an appointment.
If you need urgent help
This service is not an emergency service and does not replace medical or psychiatric care. If you’re in India and in distress, you can call Tele-MANAS, the government’s free 24-hour mental health helpline, on 14416 or 1-800-891-4416. In an emergency, call 112.
