BRICS Is Becoming a Market Opportunity for Startups

The $1.17 trillion trade story—and why Indian startups should be paying attention

For much of its history, BRICS was discussed primarily as a geopolitical grouping.

For founders, that description is becoming increasingly incomplete.

The more interesting story is what happens when countries representing a huge share of the world’s emerging-market consumers begin trying to make trade, finance, technology and entrepreneurship work more closely together.

India will host the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi on September 12–13, under the theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability.” India says more than 350 meetings and high-level engagements have already taken place across more than 25 cities during its 2026 chairship.

But there is one number that should immediately attract the attention of entrepreneurs:

$1.17 Trillion

That was the value of intra-BRICS merchandise trade in 2024, according to India’s Commerce Ministry.

In 2003, the corresponding figure was just $84 billion.

In other words, merchandise trade between BRICS members has expanded approximately 14 times in two decades.

The Market Is Already There

The argument that BRICS is merely creating a theoretical future market misses an important point:

Companies are already trading across these markets.

India’s merchandise exports to BRICS countries were estimated at $82 billion in FY2025–26, while India’s services exports to BRICS were estimated at $31.3 billion in calendar 2024.

For Indian businesses, that existing commercial footprint points toward opportunities across sectors including:

• SaaS
• Fintech
• Logistics
• Healthcare
• Climate technology
• Manufacturing technology
• Artificial intelligence
• Cybersecurity
• Education
• Consumer technology
• Professional services

The opportunity, therefore, is not simply about discovering new customers.

It is about making it easier for smaller companies to reach customers that are already part of a growing cross-border economic ecosystem.

The Untapped Part Is More Interesting

India’s Commerce Secretary has noted that intra-BRICS trade still represents only around 5% of global trade, suggesting considerable room for expansion.

This is where startups become particularly important.

A large corporation can afford to enter a new country by establishing an overseas office, hiring local teams and navigating the market over several years.

A startup usually cannot.

For a young company, international expansion often depends on a much simpler chain:

Customer → Local Partner → Payments → Regulatory Support → Distribution → Financing

Every additional layer of friction increases the cost and complexity of entering a new market.

If deeper BRICS cooperation can reduce even two or three of those barriers, the commercial effect could be meaningful.

BRICS Trade: The Numbers

Sources: Government of India / Press Information Bureau / Ministry of Commerce.

DATA VISUALISATION

Intra-BRICS Merchandise Trade Has Multiplied

Scale: $0 → $350B → $700B → $1T → $1.4T

2003 ━━━ $84B

2024 ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ $1.17T

Source: Government of India, Ministry of Commerce, May 2026.

Startup Reporter Intelligence

The headline isn’t that BRICS is suddenly creating a $1.17 trillion market.

The market already exists.

The more important question is whether the ecosystem can make that market more accessible to smaller companies.

For startups, the opportunity will not be determined by declarations alone.

It will be determined by practical improvements in:

Cross-border payments
Market access
Regulatory coordination
Local partnerships
Digital infrastructure
Trade finance
Distribution networks
Technology collaboration

That is why the next BRICS story should be measured differently.

Not simply by how many declarations are signed.

But by how many Indian startups actually enter another BRICS market.

And, ultimately, how many of them are able to build sustainable businesses there.