ONE JUST WEEK, THE INDIAN STARTUP ECOSYSTEM HAVE BIRTH TO A STAGGERING 7 SHINY NEW UNICORNS. HERE'S WHY.
For the uninitiated, a Unicorn is a privately held company that has a valuation of more than a billion dollars. A new unicorn is met by serious hype because it is a sign that the company is right on its way to go for an IPO in the mid to long term. After aeons of waiting, the Indian startup ecosystem is finally on the brink of entering a new era of rapid growth. So what is causing this sudden expansion:
APNA TIME AAGAYA
The above phrase essentially means "my time is now". The Indian Ecosystem (the present iteration that is) has been in the making after the dot-com crash of the early 2000s. Quality startups like redbus, Dhruva, Naukri & MakeMyTrip emerged as the unicorn pioneers. between 2005-2010. Again the buzz and VC inflow died down till 2014. But then, the ecosystem reemerged after the short hiatus. Since then, it has been slowly been building on this foundation. Everyone from founders to Venture Capitalists got some real experience in how things worked. The ecosystem as a whole blossomed. This the the tipping point for entrepreneurs in India. After years of hustle, the industry is finally maturing.
A QUANTUM PIVOT
The Indian startups have not been shy in changing their business models on cue. Take newly minted unicorn Meesho for example. Sensing that the majority of their users were women micro-entrepreneurs, the startup revamped its UI as well as its marketing campaigns to embrace this development. The pandemic too has helped all these startups in roping in new customers are consumer behaviour gets more acclimatized to digital services. The "Jio Revolution" has also introduced millions of new users to the internet in the span of just a few years due to its extremely low cost.
INHERENT FACTORS
India is surely the centre of attention of the globe. Ever-increasing consumer demand, diverse markets, technology innovation, disruptive propositions, and extremely high-quality talent are a few factors contributing to the startup growth story. The global investor community is keenly focused on the country and its startups to quickly invest. Over the last five years, from 2015, India has seen an inflow of $250 billion of foreign direct investment. Out of the total, almost 75% of this FDI, i.e. $184 billion, has come in through venture capital and private equity funding, which invests in the unlisted, startup, and growth companies, leading to the creation of unicorns.
THE END OF THE START
This is just the beginning. India still has immense potential for a large number of unicorns and decacorns. None of the startups have not even embarked on the IPO road yet! The interesting thing about India is that its startups are not concentrated in just one area like the Silicon Valley in USA & the Silicon Wadi in Israel. A slew of hotspots have emerged across the nation in Bengaluru, Gurgaon-NCR, Hyderabad & Pune. This reduces "location aflux" wherein founders compete for resources within a small geographic area. To you the reader, I shall proclaim one thing "Be ready for a helluva ride".
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