With a number of Unicorns and ‘Soonicorns’ that have emerged in the year 2018, startup’s began showing signs of maturity.Indian startup’s raised $12.68 billion in equity funding plus $1.14 billion in debt financing in 2018 across a total of 864 deals.
The newsmakers include Flipkart, Ola,Big Basket ,Udayan,Sharechat,Swiggy,Zomato,Curefit,Policy Bazaar,Byju’s .Closely following them include Dunzo,Mettl,Dream11,CRED,Ind Wealth, Bira91,Athen Energy,Grey Orange,Renee Power,Freshworks ,Phone Pe,Book My Show,Delhivery.
There are also startup’s in the social sector which are unique and addresses issues of public concern.
One such startup—‘Farmizen’supports farmers and the agrarian community.Farmizenis startup which enables an individual to grow chemical free organic food in a mini farm.By paying just Rs 2500/,as a monthly subscription,individuals can grow vegetables of their choice as per the season in the twelve beds allocated to them in their mini farm.They get to control the farm through an app just like FarmVille and can visit the farm anytime and harvest their own produce.Supporting farming— brings both farmers and urban citizens to a common platform and support Agri communities through partnerships.
Then there are startup’s like ‘Khaloom’ which promote sustainable and circular fashion.Khaloom promotes use of recycled textiles.Startups like Khaloom seeks to address environmental concerns of clothing being thrown away .It is seen that globally 40% of all clothing produced is thrown away.There are also startup’s like Reverse Vending Machine and ‘Khallibottle’ which collect empty PET bottles and aluminium cans and are on a spree to covert thrash to cash.
Startup’s like ‘Ecosphere’ promotes sustainable and responsible tourism and thereby reduce carbon footprint.There are also some startup’s that are attempting to segregate waste at source .It is seen that urban households in India generate over 6 crore tonnesof garbage every year of which 85% is recyclable.India’s waste management market will be worth $ 13.62 billion by 2025.
It appears that the investors faith in startup’s in 2019 will remain but they will continue to remain cautious.2018 saw two Unicorns coming from the food tech space— Swiggy and Zomato.Thisyear,the swords are drawn in the food tech space as unicorns Swiggy and Zomato ,as well as smaller competitors like Über Eats and Food Panda battle it out to dictate how India eats.
The ripple effect of the Flipkart Walmart deal proved that India was a market where money could be made.The Flipkart deal may also open the field for other to look to India.2019 is likely to have more consolidations,big and small.
2018 also saw Chinese and Japanese investors investing in startup’s.However, most of the investments have been on companies that show traction and growth.While Bengaluru continues to remain the startup capital in India,it is no longer just Bengaluru vs Delhi.Other cities in which startup ecosystem has matured include Hyderabad,Chennai,Jaipur,Pune ,Ahmedabad and Bhubaneswar..
IT will transform the way people in India will live in the times to come.Technology is the catalyst to entrepreneurship.With government giving IT sector the status of an industry and supporting startup’s through various plans,more startup’s are expected.Robots will throw open a lot of possibilities and so will the energy sector.
What is needed is to transform the country into a digitally empowered society and economy and generate new ideas,createnew enterprises and help these enterprises identify potential clients for kickstarting their business from the start.