Starter Guide to Mumbai

Kasa kay, Mumbai?

Are you beginning your startup journey in this city? We’ve got something for you.

At Plum, we’re always talking to Founders like you who want to build the best teams and products. That’s why they take the giant leap of moving to a new city — one that matches their aspirations.

But, navigating a new city’s ecosystem while running a business and maintaining a social life can be tricky. In this guide, we’ve compiled everything you should know about Mumbai’s tech, startup, and life beyond the work scene.

Table of contents

• Kasa kay, Mumbai?
• Table of contents
• Made with love by Plum
• Introduction
• Fall in love with Mumbai in less than 3 minutes by watching this video. Courtesy of Drishni Thakuria
• Event aggregators and online communities
• Startup programs
• Active VCs and investors
• PR and media in Mumbai
• People to follow on X
• Workspace and setting up your own
• Co-working
• Looking to set-up your office space in tech parks?
• Cafes to work out of
• Cafes ideal for deep work
• Cafes ideal for networking
• Ideal team outing places
• Neighbourhood breakdown for tech
• Life beyond work: What’s in Mumbai for you?
• Books and music recommendation
• Books
• Music
• Miscellaneous 101s
• Closing thoughts
• About Plum

Made with love by Plum

Whether it's working with founders to create the right business and health insurance policies or building a resource kit to help you communicate with empathy — we help you put your needs first.

But our definition of care doesn't stop there. We built this guide to welcome you to a city that’s rapidly becoming a startup hub. Share this with your new and old team members, and if you have a relocation policy, linking this guide to help others navigate the same boat would be helpful! We built this to help you do just that.

If you'd like to learn more about Plum and what we're up to, visit our website.

P.S. If you already find this useful, give us a shoutout on Twitter.

Introduction

But, why Mumbai yaar?

Mumbai is the third-largest startup hub in India. Most people are unaware that their favourite brands and apps like Dream11, BookMyShow, Zepto, Pepperfry, and more come from Mumbai. It’s also the city of Bollywood (the American Dream’s equivalent) where ideas manifest to life. If you’re lucky to have lived in Mumbai, a part of that is going to stay with you no matter where you go.

An obscure fact about this city is that it’s home to a large share of the country’s unicorns and soonicorns. These are companies that are valued at $100 Mn or above. Deputy CM of Maharastra, Devendra Fadvanis, explained why this was the case:

Mumbai’s reputation as a cosmopolitan and safe city goes a long way towards attracting talent. At the same time, this talent has the opportunity to take advantage of early and growth-stage startups and then move to late-stage startups for career growth. Unfortunately, the cost of living and rental costs are incredibly high.

Nonetheless, Mumbai is a great city to live in. It hosts a lot of cultural events and has plenty third spaces for exploration. It has still maintained its reputation as the ‘City of Dreams.’ So, if you’re planning a move to Mumbai or you’re already here, we hope this guide helps.

Fall in love with Mumbai in less than 3 minutes by watching this video. Courtesy of Drishni Thakuria

Event aggregators and online communities

Where are all the founders and their teams hanging out?

Startup programs

Mumbai’s accelerators, incubators, and startup programs to boost your 0-1 startup journey.

Active VCs and investors

A curated list of active and popular VCs, recommended by other startup founders in Mumbai

PR and media in Mumbai

Journalists covering the tech and startup beat in Mumbai

• Anand JC, Correspondent, Economic Times Online
• Samidha Sharma, Editor, Economic Times
• Shruti Mishra, Deputy Editor, CNBCTV 18
• Debangana Ghosh, Senior Correspondent, MoneyControl
• Mayur Shetty, Editor, The Times Of India
• Monica Bathija, Associate Editor, Forbes
• Thomas K Thomas, Senior Associate Editor and Chief of Mumbai Bureau, The Hindu BusinessLine
• Anshika Kayastha, Principal Correspondent, The Hindu BusinessLine
• Sneha Shah, Senior Assistant Editor, Mint
• Lancelot Joseph, Executive Editor, Business Insider
• Shivani Shinde, Editor, Business Standard
• Falak Naaz Sayed, Assistant Editor, Deccan Chronicle (Financial Chronicle)
• Nachiket Kelkar, Senior Correspondent, The Week

People to follow on X

Connect with people who’ve been active in Mumbai’s start-up and tech scene

Workspace and setting up your own

Places you and your team can work from + spaces where other founders are likely to set up their workstation

Co-working

Looking to set-up your office space in tech parks?

Cafes to work out of

Cafes ideal for deep work

Cafes ideal for networking

Ideal team outing places

Neighbourhood breakdown for tech

Life beyond work: What’s in Mumbai for you?

Are you nervous about making new friends in a new city? Don’t worry, we got you covered.

Here’s a curated list of communities, groups, and places in Mumbai where you’re likely to meet people interested in the same things as you.

Books and music recommendation

Books

• Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts (An autobiography of an Australian criminal who escapes to a new life in Mumbai).
• Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry (The story of a troubled Mumbai family, set against the backdrop of the city).
• Bombay, Meri Jaan by Jerry Pinto and Naresh Fernandes (A collection of essays on all things Mumbai).
• Love and Longing in Bombay by Vikram Chandra (Five tales set in modern Mumbai).
• Zero Point Bombay: In and Around Horniman Circle by Kamala Ganesh, Usha Thakkar, Gita Chadha (21 essays on Horniman circle in Mumbai).
• Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found by Suketu Mehta (Story of modern Mumbai and narrations of the unseen: dancing girls, thuggish powerbrokers, mafia hangouts).
• The Moor's Last Sigh by Salman Rushdie (A beautiful and funny novel of a vanishing Mumbai).
• Ravan and Eddie by Kiran Nagarkar (A novel that opens up the world of the city's sprawling chawls, or tenement blocks).
• Bombay to Mumbai: Changing Perspective by Pauline Rohatgi, Pheroza Godrej and Rahul Mehrotra (Combining historical sketches, maps and photographs with essays, this volume traces the history of the city from the time it was a collection of seven islands).
• Breathless in Bombay by Murzban F Shroff (Fourteen brilliant stories set in contemporary Mumbai)

Music

This playlist was made by a kind stranger on the internet. If you’re around the Marine Drive, play this music for yourself and share it with others.

Miscellaneous 101s

• So, you’ve moved to Mumbai. You’re looking for short weekend getaways but want to avoid common spots. Deepak’s got you covered! Check this elaborate thread of locations you can visit. Bonus: You get to see some of the most breathtaking photos along with recommendations.
• If you want to see what life in Mumbai could look like (and yes, it is as dreamy as Bollywood depicts it to be), follow Mumbai Paused on Instagram. It’s people, places, and perspectives shown through one frame at a time.
• Mumbai Heritage documents the timeline of Mumbai so far, features rare images, and other trivia. Follow them on X here.
• Dealing with problems in your Thane neighbourhood (pertaining to poorly-managed roads, waste management, water clogging, open police cases, and more)? Reach out to Sneha (aka Queen of Thane), a social activist helping people in Thane, Mumbai. [Alternate X handle: @ThaneCentral]
• Emergency numbers:
• Police: 100 or 022-22621855
• Women’s safety: 022-22633333, 22620111
• Child helpline: 1098
• Ambulance: 108 or 102
• Traffic police control room: 022-24937755, 24937746
• Fire service control room:
• Thane: 25391600
• Vashi: 27660101
• Marol/Andheri East: 29200940, 29200941
• Sakinaka: 28523936, 28522334

Closing thoughts

We hope this guide is full of information that has been useful in your Mumbai startup journey. Consider this a V1 and if you have any recommendations, resources, or information you’d like to contribute, please fill this form, and we’ll be happy to add.

About Plum

Plum is a modern-day insurtech, providing benefits and insurance for companies that care.

Our mission is to accelerate the adoption of health insurance in India by making employee health insurance and benefits accessible, affordable, and usable for employees. We also provide exclusive business insurance plans to help startups mitigate risk, enabling founders to go forth with courageous and ambitious bets.

If you’re a founder who wants to cover your team and business with the best care and benefits, visit our website.

P.S. We’d like to extend our gratitude to Sajith Pai, Rahul Sanghi, Ashish Bijlani, Shriya Shah, and Dhwani Nanavati for helping us build this out.