The document discusses the growth of the start-up ecosystem in India. It states that the number of start-ups in India increased by 40% within a year and is expected to exceed 4,200 by the end of 2015. Total funding for Indian start-ups is estimated to reach $5 billion by the end of 2015. Start-ups are playing a major role in technological innovations in India through their flexibility in adopting new technologies like cloud, mobile, analytics and social media. The growth of the start-up ecosystem has been boosted by increased funding from investors and acquisitions. It is making India a global start-up hub and generating many employment opportunities.
iSPIRT Product Industry Monitor(PIM) Feb 2014 - a first-of-its-kind report an...ProductNation/iSPIRT
India has the potential to build a USD 100 bn software product industry by 2025 with resolute and purposeful action by industry and government.
• Over 50% of software product companies are completely self-funded or ‘bootstrapped’.
• Lot of senior talent from MNCs is starting software product companies – close to 40% of founders come from an MNC.
• Indian software product startups are experiencing ‘talent starvation’ at the entry level.
• 78% of Indian software product startups defy the universal logic of having founders with diverse skills, and instead have homogenous founding partners.
• The three most common product sectors that companies work in are Enterprise, SaaS and Consumer.
Our world is changing at an unprecedented pace, driven by a new digital economy. Companies across sectors are keen to become more efficient, disruptive, and differentiated, by using new technologies and supported by an ecosystem of customers, partners, and technology leaders. New-age technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Augmented Reality (AR), Blockchain, Machine Learning, 3D printing, and IoT are gaining more and more importance and acceptance.
India has all the ingredients in place to leverage this innovation and technological advantage in the long run, including university graduates, public institutes and corporates. However, India’s gross expenditure on R&D as a proportion of GDP (GERD) is less than 0.7% as of 2014-15 and within this, the share of industry is just 30%. Further, the vast SME sector needs to scale up technology infusion for higher productivity.
India as a Product Nation - The Next Google can come from India Avinash Raghava
This presentation talks about the Important Characteristics of the Software Product Industry, Why India needs The Software Products Industry. Indian Software Product Industry touches 3m small enterprises today. It will touch 30m enterprises – small businesses, rural schools, primary healthcare centers, small farms, etc. - in 10 years
Focus: Innovation and Technical Capability
Innovation and technical capability have been the key drivers of economic growth. Countries which have focused on research and adopted changes have seen faster economic progress than countries which have not. In the past, India has been ranked low on research and development and the challenges related to design, innovation, patent filing and a supportive start-up ecosystem have hampered India’s economic progress.
The Indian Government and the Industry recognize that disruption through convergence of technology and enterprise can be a game-changer for the economy and society. The recent demonetisation drive by the Government of India, in a way, has inaugurated a Fintech revolution. Innovations in the financial technologies such as digital payment gateways and mobile wallets by a host of home-grown ventures are transforming the present financial landscape by offering more transactional agility and transparency.
Insights Success is glad the Introduce The 50 Startups To Take A Look At in 2019, Who are sharing an enthusiasm to put resources into various new Indian startups, thereby enabling them to create more milestones.
Indian Tech Start-up Ecosystem 2018: Approaching Escape Velocity RemotePanda
The fifth edition of the NASSCOM-Zinnov report titled “Indian Start-up Ecosystem 2018: Approaching Escape Velocity” is a compilation of facts, trends, and insights on the Indian Tech Start-up landscape. The report examines the evolution of the ecosystem, its growth drivers, and highlights the role played by investors, incubators/ accelerators, and the Government.
Key Highlights:
1. Start-up Landscape
- 7200-7700 Start-ups incepted during 2013-18; overall base growing at 12-15%
- 1200+ Start-ups added in 2018
- 8 Start-ups become Unicorns in 2018; highest addition in a single calendar year ever!!!
2. Funding and M&A Trends
- USD 4.3 Bn funding received by Start-ups in 2018 (Jan-Sep); more than 100% YoY growth
- USD 9.4 Mn average funding per deal (144% increase over 2017); Seed stage funding further down by 21%
- 70+ M&As; 15% increase from 2017
3. Start-up Ecosystem Enablers
- 210+ active Accelerators/Incubators; 11% increase compared to 2017
- 35+ Corporate Incubators/Accelerators incepted in the last 3 years
- 14+ active International Start-up Exchange missions
4. Vertical/Technology Insights
- Enterprise Software, FinTech, and HealthTech leading verticals; comprise 50% of total Start-ups
- Advanced Tech Start-ups grew over 50% in last year alone
Source: NASSCOM
Pitched a novel model for establishing a Think Tank to improve the Indian startup ecosystem.
Key goals include:
1) Driving Technology development
2) Studying the co-evolution society and technology
3) Actively collaborating with the government, International community for Policy making and Advocacy.
Collaborated with Vijay Raghavan.
Photo by Jo Szczepanska on Unsplash
iSPIRT Product Industry Monitor(PIM) Feb 2014 - a first-of-its-kind report an...ProductNation/iSPIRT
India has the potential to build a USD 100 bn software product industry by 2025 with resolute and purposeful action by industry and government.
• Over 50% of software product companies are completely self-funded or ‘bootstrapped’.
• Lot of senior talent from MNCs is starting software product companies – close to 40% of founders come from an MNC.
• Indian software product startups are experiencing ‘talent starvation’ at the entry level.
• 78% of Indian software product startups defy the universal logic of having founders with diverse skills, and instead have homogenous founding partners.
• The three most common product sectors that companies work in are Enterprise, SaaS and Consumer.
Our world is changing at an unprecedented pace, driven by a new digital economy. Companies across sectors are keen to become more efficient, disruptive, and differentiated, by using new technologies and supported by an ecosystem of customers, partners, and technology leaders. New-age technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Augmented Reality (AR), Blockchain, Machine Learning, 3D printing, and IoT are gaining more and more importance and acceptance.
India has all the ingredients in place to leverage this innovation and technological advantage in the long run, including university graduates, public institutes and corporates. However, India’s gross expenditure on R&D as a proportion of GDP (GERD) is less than 0.7% as of 2014-15 and within this, the share of industry is just 30%. Further, the vast SME sector needs to scale up technology infusion for higher productivity.
India as a Product Nation - The Next Google can come from India Avinash Raghava
This presentation talks about the Important Characteristics of the Software Product Industry, Why India needs The Software Products Industry. Indian Software Product Industry touches 3m small enterprises today. It will touch 30m enterprises – small businesses, rural schools, primary healthcare centers, small farms, etc. - in 10 years
Focus: Innovation and Technical Capability
Innovation and technical capability have been the key drivers of economic growth. Countries which have focused on research and adopted changes have seen faster economic progress than countries which have not. In the past, India has been ranked low on research and development and the challenges related to design, innovation, patent filing and a supportive start-up ecosystem have hampered India’s economic progress.
The Indian Government and the Industry recognize that disruption through convergence of technology and enterprise can be a game-changer for the economy and society. The recent demonetisation drive by the Government of India, in a way, has inaugurated a Fintech revolution. Innovations in the financial technologies such as digital payment gateways and mobile wallets by a host of home-grown ventures are transforming the present financial landscape by offering more transactional agility and transparency.
Insights Success is glad the Introduce The 50 Startups To Take A Look At in 2019, Who are sharing an enthusiasm to put resources into various new Indian startups, thereby enabling them to create more milestones.
Indian Tech Start-up Ecosystem 2018: Approaching Escape Velocity RemotePanda
The fifth edition of the NASSCOM-Zinnov report titled “Indian Start-up Ecosystem 2018: Approaching Escape Velocity” is a compilation of facts, trends, and insights on the Indian Tech Start-up landscape. The report examines the evolution of the ecosystem, its growth drivers, and highlights the role played by investors, incubators/ accelerators, and the Government.
Key Highlights:
1. Start-up Landscape
- 7200-7700 Start-ups incepted during 2013-18; overall base growing at 12-15%
- 1200+ Start-ups added in 2018
- 8 Start-ups become Unicorns in 2018; highest addition in a single calendar year ever!!!
2. Funding and M&A Trends
- USD 4.3 Bn funding received by Start-ups in 2018 (Jan-Sep); more than 100% YoY growth
- USD 9.4 Mn average funding per deal (144% increase over 2017); Seed stage funding further down by 21%
- 70+ M&As; 15% increase from 2017
3. Start-up Ecosystem Enablers
- 210+ active Accelerators/Incubators; 11% increase compared to 2017
- 35+ Corporate Incubators/Accelerators incepted in the last 3 years
- 14+ active International Start-up Exchange missions
4. Vertical/Technology Insights
- Enterprise Software, FinTech, and HealthTech leading verticals; comprise 50% of total Start-ups
- Advanced Tech Start-ups grew over 50% in last year alone
Source: NASSCOM
Pitched a novel model for establishing a Think Tank to improve the Indian startup ecosystem.
Key goals include:
1) Driving Technology development
2) Studying the co-evolution society and technology
3) Actively collaborating with the government, International community for Policy making and Advocacy.
Collaborated with Vijay Raghavan.
Photo by Jo Szczepanska on Unsplash
InsightsSuccess covers the story of "The Best of 5 Tech Startup Companies." Technology today does not just form a part of business strategy but is a key determiner of business success. Technology, being a fundamental requirement for any business today, was the driving factor behind the thought of starting the Opiant Group by Nagendra Singh and Aarti Chitkara.
In this edition of, “Innovative Business Leaders Making a Difference, 2021” we have published innovative leaders from different backgrounds who have pushed their boundaries, have thought out of the box, and have come up with innovative ways to improve the businesses and their offerings
Keeping in mind the importance of innovative solutions, we introduce some of the most prominent startups in the industry who have outclassed others and have contributed significantly in the recent years. We bring you “The 18 Innovative Startups to Watch in 2018”. This edition aspires to help the organizations to connect the right innovative partners who can deliver smart solutions and scalability with industry-leading operating models.
India Technology Product M&A Industry Monitor - An iSPIRT & SignalHill reportProductNation/iSPIRT
India Technology Product M&A Industry Monitor - An iSPIRT & SignalHill report. Tech Product M&A in India is on the rise with both US & Asian strategics starting to dip their toes in the water. On account of the increasing pace of innovations and scale of the Indian Product Tech eco-system,
India Technology Product M&A Industry Monitor Report - Presented by iSPIRT & ...ProductNation/iSPIRT
The iSPIRT M&A monitor shows that since 2010, there have been 159 M&A transactions involving Indian Technology Product companies, with a total estimated transaction value of $1.78B. Domestic transactions account for the lion share (70%) of the M&A activity by volume. However in value terms, the 48 inbound M&A transactions account for 63% of the estimated M&A transaction value, due to a higher average deal size ($23.3m versus $6.0m).
“In the Silicon Valley, technology M&A exits provide liquidity to all the stakeholders in the eco-system and help enable the next generation of tech startups. For the Indian product startup eco-system to flourish, it is critical to us to drive up the level of Technology Product M&A transactions”, said Sanat Rao, who leads iSPIRT’s M&A Connect Program, an initiative dedicated to facilitating and expediting the cross-border M&A process for Indian software product companies.
MMA with Hansa Cequity launched a ‘Modern Marketer’s e-guide to Martech Maturity’ outlining martech maturity levels across sectors, understanding the current tools, the gaps with insights on the governance of martech stacks, and skilling best practices.
Chapter 1: Current SMBs and IT scenario in INDIA
Chapter 2: IT adoption Scenario in India’s SMBs
Chapter 3: Usages of IT in SMBs
Chapter 4: Barriers to Technology Adoption and its Remedies
The 10 most emerging tech startup in india smallMerry D'souza
Insights Success features , "The 10 Most Emerging Tech Startup in India"
On the cover of the magazine , we have featured special story of Kanishka Consultancy- #SnehalDesle - Umbarkar | Director | Kanishka Software Pvt Ltd.
We have exhibited some distinctive companies who have come up with the most unique solutions.
A S URVIVABILITY M ODEL FOR S AUDI ICT S TART - UPSijcsit
nnovation and entrepreneurship are critical elements in the transition to the knowledge-based economy
and future competition. Unfortunately, innovation tends to
b
e absent in Arab states for many reasons. To
promote innovation in Saudi Arabia, for instance, it is necessary to support inventors’ ideas to turn
inventions into start-up companies, which are companies in their early stage. At the same time, it seems
that there is a need for more academic research to study the success factors of Saudi information and
communication technology (ICT) start-up companies. ICT start-ups are important to the economy because
they are needed for the progress of all industries. Therefore, this study will identify the factors that lead to
successful ICT start-up projects. Then, it will develop a model for the best practices in the interplay among
the defined factors that will increase the opportunity to initiate successful start-ups. This research involves
a factor analysis study based on a quantitative method to measure the interdependences among the success
factors for ICT start-ups. The identified factors are verified using a sample of Saudi
start-up companies.
The study will contribute to enhancing the technological content to diversify the Saudi economy in order to
prepare for the post-oil era
Why india still has an edge in software development outsourcing in 2022, desp...ISHIR
India is known for its cost advantage and the largest pool of IT talent, If you consider outsourcing software development projects to India, you should not focus solely on India’s edge in software development.
Innovation Portfolio Management and Governance | Accentureaccenture
With innovation investments increasing, it's critical to invest in future potential and have a balanced innovation portfolio management strategy. Learn more.
Historically, business incubators and accelerators have been successful supporting startup companies worldwide and facilitating their long-term sustainability. Here are eight AMAZING facts you may not have known about these vital small business and entrepreneurial resources.
Google Accel Report - SaaS India, Global SMB Market, $50B in 2025 #SaaSinIndi...Accel Partners India
#SaaSinIndia
A joint report released by Google & Accel Partners outlined the growth opportunity for Indian SaaS Startups as SaaS adoption by SMBs is set to overtake that by large enterprises. The report outlines that purpose built SaaS products will see hyper growth and adoption by SMBs, and will contribute to more than 75% of the public cloud revenues driving the global SaaS industry to $ 132B revenues by 2020, of which SMB SaaS is expected to reach $76B.
InsightsSuccess covers the story of "The Best of 5 Tech Startup Companies." Technology today does not just form a part of business strategy but is a key determiner of business success. Technology, being a fundamental requirement for any business today, was the driving factor behind the thought of starting the Opiant Group by Nagendra Singh and Aarti Chitkara.
In this edition of, “Innovative Business Leaders Making a Difference, 2021” we have published innovative leaders from different backgrounds who have pushed their boundaries, have thought out of the box, and have come up with innovative ways to improve the businesses and their offerings
Keeping in mind the importance of innovative solutions, we introduce some of the most prominent startups in the industry who have outclassed others and have contributed significantly in the recent years. We bring you “The 18 Innovative Startups to Watch in 2018”. This edition aspires to help the organizations to connect the right innovative partners who can deliver smart solutions and scalability with industry-leading operating models.
India Technology Product M&A Industry Monitor - An iSPIRT & SignalHill reportProductNation/iSPIRT
India Technology Product M&A Industry Monitor - An iSPIRT & SignalHill report. Tech Product M&A in India is on the rise with both US & Asian strategics starting to dip their toes in the water. On account of the increasing pace of innovations and scale of the Indian Product Tech eco-system,
India Technology Product M&A Industry Monitor Report - Presented by iSPIRT & ...ProductNation/iSPIRT
The iSPIRT M&A monitor shows that since 2010, there have been 159 M&A transactions involving Indian Technology Product companies, with a total estimated transaction value of $1.78B. Domestic transactions account for the lion share (70%) of the M&A activity by volume. However in value terms, the 48 inbound M&A transactions account for 63% of the estimated M&A transaction value, due to a higher average deal size ($23.3m versus $6.0m).
“In the Silicon Valley, technology M&A exits provide liquidity to all the stakeholders in the eco-system and help enable the next generation of tech startups. For the Indian product startup eco-system to flourish, it is critical to us to drive up the level of Technology Product M&A transactions”, said Sanat Rao, who leads iSPIRT’s M&A Connect Program, an initiative dedicated to facilitating and expediting the cross-border M&A process for Indian software product companies.
MMA with Hansa Cequity launched a ‘Modern Marketer’s e-guide to Martech Maturity’ outlining martech maturity levels across sectors, understanding the current tools, the gaps with insights on the governance of martech stacks, and skilling best practices.
Chapter 1: Current SMBs and IT scenario in INDIA
Chapter 2: IT adoption Scenario in India’s SMBs
Chapter 3: Usages of IT in SMBs
Chapter 4: Barriers to Technology Adoption and its Remedies
The 10 most emerging tech startup in india smallMerry D'souza
Insights Success features , "The 10 Most Emerging Tech Startup in India"
On the cover of the magazine , we have featured special story of Kanishka Consultancy- #SnehalDesle - Umbarkar | Director | Kanishka Software Pvt Ltd.
We have exhibited some distinctive companies who have come up with the most unique solutions.
A S URVIVABILITY M ODEL FOR S AUDI ICT S TART - UPSijcsit
nnovation and entrepreneurship are critical elements in the transition to the knowledge-based economy
and future competition. Unfortunately, innovation tends to
b
e absent in Arab states for many reasons. To
promote innovation in Saudi Arabia, for instance, it is necessary to support inventors’ ideas to turn
inventions into start-up companies, which are companies in their early stage. At the same time, it seems
that there is a need for more academic research to study the success factors of Saudi information and
communication technology (ICT) start-up companies. ICT start-ups are important to the economy because
they are needed for the progress of all industries. Therefore, this study will identify the factors that lead to
successful ICT start-up projects. Then, it will develop a model for the best practices in the interplay among
the defined factors that will increase the opportunity to initiate successful start-ups. This research involves
a factor analysis study based on a quantitative method to measure the interdependences among the success
factors for ICT start-ups. The identified factors are verified using a sample of Saudi
start-up companies.
The study will contribute to enhancing the technological content to diversify the Saudi economy in order to
prepare for the post-oil era
Why india still has an edge in software development outsourcing in 2022, desp...ISHIR
India is known for its cost advantage and the largest pool of IT talent, If you consider outsourcing software development projects to India, you should not focus solely on India’s edge in software development.
Innovation Portfolio Management and Governance | Accentureaccenture
With innovation investments increasing, it's critical to invest in future potential and have a balanced innovation portfolio management strategy. Learn more.
Historically, business incubators and accelerators have been successful supporting startup companies worldwide and facilitating their long-term sustainability. Here are eight AMAZING facts you may not have known about these vital small business and entrepreneurial resources.
Google Accel Report - SaaS India, Global SMB Market, $50B in 2025 #SaaSinIndi...Accel Partners India
#SaaSinIndia
A joint report released by Google & Accel Partners outlined the growth opportunity for Indian SaaS Startups as SaaS adoption by SMBs is set to overtake that by large enterprises. The report outlines that purpose built SaaS products will see hyper growth and adoption by SMBs, and will contribute to more than 75% of the public cloud revenues driving the global SaaS industry to $ 132B revenues by 2020, of which SMB SaaS is expected to reach $76B.
Driving growth in Indian manufacturing industry Sumit Roy
Indian manufacturing is just perfectly poised to Unlocking the transformation value with technology .While businesses understand that in order to build an organisation that is agile and suited to withstand current market and economic volatilities, there are several things to be considered before taking a digital leap. More than just a strategy for any individual technology trend or for combining more than one of them, companies need a systematic approach to adopt technologies in a holistic fashion. The industry trends and challenges primarily drive the appropriate selection of technology solutions, which need to be fine-tuned to a company’s needs based on its scale, capabilities and its specific issues. This joint CII-PwC report takes a closer look at two industries in particular, manufacturing and infrastructure, and tries to decode the prevalent challenges in these two sectors, the kind of initiatives being taken to drive growth and development, and how IT adoption is playing an important role to overcome these challenges
Start-up is a basic thing that a person trying to do something original. Technopreneurs are the genes of technology based entrepreneurs, but they are not only bearing the risk in business and also crossing the danger zone in innovative and initiative a new kind of product and service to the society. In recent years, India concentrates on the development of start-up environment and deserves that, this is the best season to promote the techno start-up for the massive pillar in the upcoming trends. Since 2010, entire developed nations were focusing on the roar of technopreneurs of our nation. In the present situation, government of India highly offering outstanding opportunities to its extent and this may set the new milestone for the next phase of the start-up environment. This paper deals with the development of technopreneurship in India and contribution to the start-up technopreneurs, new schemes and well equipped technology parks will be implemented for the welfare of the new start-up and commencing new technical education centres with mentors and advisers.
Emerging trends in new start up technopreneursRAVICHANDIRANG
The banking system occupies an important place in a nation’s economy. A banking institution
is indispensable in a modern society. It plays a pivotal role in the economic development of a
country and forms the core of the money market in an advance country. With the effects of the
globalisation, banking sectors become highly competitive and technology based with
multidimensional products to the customers and public. Commercial banks particularly public
sectors banks are extremely responsible to the provide financial support to industrial sectors not
only for generate revenue but also for the development of industries in a particular region which
the banks is located. MSME needs liberal financial assistance from commercial banks to establish
and extent their business operation to meet the global competition.RBI has formulated several
policies regarding financing to priority sectors particularly in small industries in the country.
Naga Sridhar(2008), in his article “Steady Growth in Public Sector Banks” SME lending money
says that the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are departing from their traditional strong
hold sectors and are venturing into new areas if the trends in SME lending by some banks in 2007
are any indication to go by. There has been greater interest float SMEs in relatively newer sectors
such as hospitality, hospitals and travel agencies in addition to the popular areas such as textiles,
fertilizers, gems and jewellery, according to bankers.
Innovation Imperative for Indian Software Services Companies Innomantra
India has branded itself as an Information Technology Leader and the Services industry is a major contributor to the Gross Domestic Product. Service oriented companies need to align their business strategies with innovation and define their objectives and work environment accordingly.
"The 50 Start Take a Look At in 2019", this issue has featured a handful of professionals offering a diverse and engaging mix of creativity and distinctiveness.
The 10 best emerging fintech startups in 2018Merry D'souza
Fintech in India is a unique because it is young, growing rapidly, and is fuelled by a large market base. Insights Success "The 10 Best Emerging Fintech Startups in 2018", Our magazine journey begins with the Cover story; CASHe, which provide immediate short-term personal loans to young professionals based on their social profile, merit and earning potential using its proprietary algorithm-based machine learning platform.
When operating a startup, there are too many things on your plate that you need to take care of. You have a service/product to develop, a team to manage, and deals to seal. Understanding this importance, CA Mitesh Katira – A Startup Enthusiastic is all set to host a session on “How To Make A Startup Standup “on 02nd December at the Ghatkopar Study Circle at 6.00 pm to 9.00 pm .
International tie ups boosting india’s startup ecosystemeTailing India
Indian startups may soon get easier access to the German market and investments thanks to an agreement the government is planning to sign with the country for a startup exchange programme.
International tie ups boosting india’s startup ecosystem
VARIndia Cover Story Dec 2015
1. 40 December 2015 www.varindia.com
Saurav Kumar
CEO & Co-founder,
Cube26.
Amit Mehta
Country Manager,
Isilon Storage Division
Ravindra Krishnappa
CEO and co-founder
AppsOnChat
Start-ups – Future Enterprises of India
The new buzzword “start-ups” which has
been hovering on the Indian IT industry for
quite a long time has created ripples in the
ecosystem. In recent days, India has become
an incubator for start-up companies. India,
which is one of the youngest start-up nations
in the world, has some of the most thriving
businesses. The technology start-up landscape
has gained momentum and is showing signs
of maturity. The start-ups are playing a major
role behind technological innovations in the
country as they are flexible in embracing new-
age technologies.
As per the NASSCOM Start-up Report
2015, within one year, the number of start-
ups in India has increased by 40 per cent and
is expected to cross 4,200 by the end of 2015.
With over 100-per cent growth in the number
of PE/VCs/angel investors along with a 125-
per cent growth in funding over the last year,
the Indian start-up ecosystem has risen to the
next level. The total funding in India-based
start-ups is estimated to be nearly $5 billion
by the end of 2015. This growth will only
increase as thousands of start-ups are expected
to establish themselves in India, generating
employment opportunities for hundreds of
thousands of people. This will not only pave
the way for innovative services, but will also
act as a major booster for the development
and progress of the Indian economy.
“The start-up landscape does not very
heavily invest in the data centers given the
natureofthebusiness.Thefirstthingthathelps
them is SMAC (Cloud, Mobile, Analytics and
Social Media) platform. They are the fastest
to embrace all these technologies. In a survey
conducted by EMC, we have seen that 85
per cent of start-ups have adopted mobile,
54 per cent have embraced cloud, 46 per
cent analytics and 44 per cent social media,”
said Amit Mehta, Country Manager, Isilon
Storage Division.
Product/ digital start-up landscape
So far, the industry has witnessed
phenomenal growth for the Indian technology
start-up ecosystem, driven by factors such
as massive infused capital, acquisitions and
consolidations, increasing Internet and
smartphone penetration, and an ever-growing
domestic market.
“The technology product start-up
landscape in India is in a take-off state,
having gathered the momentum the entire
ecosystem is now ready to gain altitude,
which essentially would mean that scalable
solutions will see a lot of customer traction
both in the B2B and consumer space, thereby
yielding positive output for the long-term
COVER STORY
2. 41www.varindia.com December 2015
Sundeep Bhat
National Sales Head,
C- Zentrix
Tejinder Oberoi
Founder Director
m1-Order
Ambika Sharma
Founder,
Instappy
Pradeep Agarwal
Chief operations officer,
hSenid Business Solutions
investors,” says Sundeep Bhat, National Sales
Head, C- Zentrix.
“In recent years, the Indian start-up
ecosystem has really taken off and come
into its own – driven by factors such as
massive funding, consolidation activities,
evolving technology and a burgeoning
domestic market,” adds Pradeep Agarwal,
Chief Operations Officer, hSenid Business
Solutions.
The start-ups are riding on the success of
identifying the gaps in traditional businesses
and bridging those gaps with innovative
products.
“Driven by young, passionate
entrepreneurs and professionals who are
looking to integrate technology with
innovative business solutions, the Indian start-
up landscape is, at present, extremely vibrant
and dynamic. Professionals are identifying
gaps in the traditional business models and
are working zealously towards bridging
them through technology. Devices such as
smartphones in particular have provided these
new-age businessmen an extremely feasible
way of enabling services delivery owing to
their ubiquitous presence and massive scope
for future growth. As such, the country is
seeing constant product re-engineering as
well as evolution and implementation of new
and path-breaking technologies,” comments
Ambika Sharma, Founder, Instappy.
VC/PE investors
Venture capital investments in India have
reached Rs.15,600 crore (US$2,363) till June
2015, surpassing the total Rs.14,850 crore
(US$2,250) invested in the entire 2014, setting
the stage for another record year as interest
in local technology start-ups peak. So it is
quite evident that the VC/PE investors are
very keen to invest in India and it is gaining
momentum.
“Globally, VC/PE investors have always
been active in the space of ICT. I see the Gen-Y
of investors slightly more inclined towards the
‘Cloud Powered’ unified communications.
The US start-up community in the ICT space
has seen more than a billion US dollars of
funding in the last year alone and the inflow
of funds will continue for the next few years
with an only cap of rolling out multiple
services over the same platform.
It is important to understand that the
hardware business is difficult to sell. So
hardware has to be backed with strong
software. Investors usually shy away from
investing in the product/hardware domain,
but there has been a good amount of
investment made in the product/digital start-
up domain, especially when it has been backed
by strong software propositions.
“In the near future, we believe investors
will be more cautious into where they are
investing and evaluating the business plans
and strategy further stringently,” says Saurav
Kumar, CEO & Co-Founder, Cube26.
Similarly, Bishal Lachhiramka, CEO &
Co-Founder, Ameyo, states, “Investments
in this field are gradually picking upstream.
Ameyo raised its first round of Series A
venture capital funding of $5 million in July
2015 weighing on the possible opportunities
the field is open to. India has always been
accommodative to venture capitalists, and by
adding start-ups and the overarching emphasis
on customer experience, the investors are
looking forward to new innovations in the
contact centre industry.”
“The pace of VC investments has been
good in technology companies that could
demonstrate large market and scalable sales
model. The total funding in India-based start-
ups is estimated to be nearly $5 billion by
2015. A large share of the investment has gone
in consumer tech firms as opposed to software
companies. In 2016, we will see the share of
investment increase in software companies,”
expresses Nilesh Patel, CEO, Lead Squared.
Although the market has suffered in
recent years because of considerable backlash
against certain start-ups as a result of layoffs,
India continues to grow as a start-up giant.
“The last one to two years saw much
exuberance in the financial markets for start-
ups, but a correction was expected as part of
a natural cycle. With the recent negativity
around start-ups after news of layoffs and
shutdowns, investors have become a lot
more cautious. High valuations demanded
by Indian technology start-ups now need to
be supported by underlying growth, sound
business models and the ability to turn in
profits. That said, it will not impact genuine
sustainable interest for the Indian start-up
ecosystem,” adds Bhavin Turakhia, CEO,
Ringo and Flock.
Technology innovation with start-ups
Unlike traditional companies, start-ups
are open to adopt new technologies to come
up with innovative and fresh products and
solutions. Innovation is certainly on the rise
in India and it is not just because of start-ups
but because of enterprises investing heavily
in R&D. Today, multiple new products have
been brought up by start-ups and a lot of them
are doing well in the market.
Another reason behind the boom of the
start-up ecosystem in the country is because
start-ups are more willing to take risks and
experiment with products. Today, multiple
new products have been brought up by start-
ups and a lot of them are doing well in the
market.
“Technology and innovation are tightly
linked notions. Technology is the platform
on which innovations are founded. It is
becoming quite easy for entrepreneurs who
have ideas to develop a digital tech product
and launch a start-up. New start-ups are
focussing on commerce, analytics, education,
marketing and collaboration. One set of start-
ups becomes the cause of another set of start-
ups. For instance, the rise in e-commerce and
m-commerce is fuelling the growth of start-
ups in the hyperlocal retail and hyperlocal
delivery segments,” opines Tejinder Oberoi,
Founder Director, m1-Order.
“As such, a start-up culture is much
more open to adopting and using the latest
3. 42 December 2015 www.varindia.com
technologies available in the market. This,
in turn, forces tech-based companies to
innovate to provide fresh solutions that can
be leveraged by an ever-growing pool of start-
ups across the globe. Sharing such a symbiotic
relationship, both the industries feed off each
other and depend on each other to grow and
scale.”
“A key factor in this innovation
relationship is the increased penetration of
smartphones across the country. Today,
people in rural areas too own smartphones and
heavily use apps and data, making technology
not just a luxury for the elite few. Start-ups
have capitalized on this, creating apps that
leverage the low cost of smartphones and
infrastructure to bring you goods and services
to your doorstep,” expresses Bhavin.
“The start-up revolution has not only
paved the way for technology innovation and
advancements, but a larger cake of emerging
businesses solely rely on new-age technology
to support their operations. For instance,
the storm of hyperlocals has made start-ups
to gradually shift to mobile platform and
applications as a primary and critical source
of communication and business transaction.
This wave of technology innovation seems
to never cease and surprise customers that are
now eagerly waiting for new advancements in
business,” says Bishal Lachhiramka.
“The present-day Business Models are
looking out for specialized solutions in niche
markets. They are looking for solutions that
are light, canbe easily integrated, are securedin
open networks and ease real-time governance.
Owingtothis,theIndiantechnologystart-ups,
Sanchit Jain
CEO,
DreamOrbit
Bishal Lachhiramka
CEO and Co-Founder,
Ameyo
Bhavin Turakhia
CEO,
Ringo and Flock
Nilesh Patel
CEO
LeadSquared
with their unique solutions, are witnessing
increased traction in whitespace opportunities
like big data and analytics, internet of things,
augmented reality, smart hardware and cloud
computing.
“Since 2010, the Indian technology start-
ups landscape has seen a sharp rise in the
creation of new start-ups and this number is
expected to grow steeply,” Sanchit Jain, CEO,
Dream Orbit
Upcoming technology trends
As start-ups are the innovators of new and
fresh solutions and products, they are the ones
which will guide the upcoming technology
trends. They will be very much instrumental
in upholding a technology as a trend.
“While cloud-based technologies have
dominated the start-up landscape for a while
now, with new breakthroughs constantly
being made in the sector, we can safely assume
that cloud will continue to play a decisive role
in the market. Additionally, data analytics
technologies will play a more vital part in
defining growth strategies by identifying
current and future trends and providing the
budding ventures with valuable insights. This
shall empower them with the tools to plan
their business evolution and will help them
tailor their growth journey for success in
their respective industries,” suggests Ambika
Sharma, Founder, Instappy.
“The new social and economic policies are
driving better opportunities for the year 2016.
We are expecting many small and medium
businesses to open up to technology and join
the mega trend of digital transformation.
Technology would help these SMBs capture
the untapped markets with new innovative
business models and transform the business
scenario in general. New verticals like public
sector, healthcare, media, education and
energy will be emerging and would demand
innovation in IoT, Cloud and Mobile
Application. We will see stronger emphasis
on Human-centric Designed Application
acting more smartly using Big Data,” says
Sanchit Jain, CEO, Dream Orbit.
Listing the upcoming top three
predictions, Ravindra Krishnappa, CEO &
Co-Founder, AppsOnChat, says, “The top
three predictions are Chat led by WhatsApp
will penetrate 60+% of Indian households,
India will have a near-zero legacy on mobiles,
i.e. most people will have a smartphone that
is capable of 3G+ connections and lastly
almost all ‘field’ related services will be both
Geotagging and Mobile enabled.”
“Multiple technologies will dominate
2016, leading among them will be applications
and IoT. As we move ahead, one will see
varied usage of IoT and newer products based
on IoT being launched. The products which
can add utility to the daily lives of consumers
will be the winners. IoT has been talked
about extensively, but very few products are
today available in the market which are easily
accessible to the consumers, have a daily
utility and are easy to use. If one can change
this, it will certainly be a game-changer,”
predicts Saurav Kumar, CEO & Co-Founder,
Cube26.
Message for start-ups
The new generation is the information
generation who wants 24/7 access across
multiple platforms and also wants unique
experiences. So given that start-ups do not
have any legacy, they can immediately
embrace the latest technology and cater to the
digitally native information generation.
To become the future enterprise, the start-
ups need to follow a few standards which will
help them to taste success.
“We analyze five top business drivers for
either traditional or start-up companies to be
successful. These are:
• Predictively spot new opportunities which
mean understanding your customers very
well, have data sets which are aggregated
and doing predictive analytics to become
profitable.
• Creating unique customer experience
which is only possibly when you
understand your customers well.
• Innovate in an agile way. India is very
different from other markets so start-ups
have to innovate their offerings in a very
agile way.
• Operate in real time. So if there is a crisis
you need to address it in real time. It is the
reality of the start-up companies.
• Secure customer sensitive data,” concludes
Amit Mehta. n
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