Do More Faster India, 2nd Edition

Legal Tips for Indian Startups

Sharda Balaji 

Sharda is founding partner of NovoJuris Legal, an innovative new-age law firm specializing in corporate, private equity, fund formation, fund investments, technology, cross-border transactions, IP, mediation, and settlements. NovoJuris is consistently ranked top 5 in India's private equity placements and has participated in 360+ transactions representing entrepreneurs, VCs, acquisitions, and exits.

India is gaining the world’s attention with the very high number of startups and unicorns. While the government is continuously making strides in ease of doing business in India, there are a lot of things—like regulations—that can derail a good idea from getting to the market. If you’re starting a business, then legal advice is certainly advisable, especially from lawyers who understand the path from starting up and scaling up exponentially. As a lawyer who has worked with hundreds of startups, I wanted to provide startup founders with an overview of the legal challenges involved in starting a business so that you can budget your time and resources effectively.

Location, Location, Location

The first thing to consider is, where will you incorporate? With 29 States and seven Union Territories founders would like to optimize for talent, government‐friendly policies, networks of entrepreneurs, market demographics, and other factors, your company could have operational offices anywhere in India. But the registered office, that is, the address ...