Indian Start-up are seeing a new era of growth in 2021

As we enter 2021, from the year uncertainty it has brought unprecedented changes in the startup ecosystem and consequently changed entrepreneurs’ outlook on success completely. Many start-ups have taken diverse business models, partnering with OTTs, education platforms and subscription services that do not rely on online shopping and developed those verticals for CashKaro. Sectors such as e-health, fintech, edtech, e-commerce and consumer tech will continue to attract investors.

The startup ecosystem achieved several milestones: from boasting more than 50,000 tech startups and raising billion-dollar funding deals to India becoming the third-largest startup ecosystem, from building digital and tech infrastructure in the country to promoting women and student entrepreneurs. While COVID-19 may have turned our lives upside down, it has certainly provided an opportunity for startup Bharat to rise to the occasion. With an influx of youth, startups from non-metro cities rose to the challenges thrown by COVID-19 with zeal and positivity, and worked hard to innovate.

India’s gig sector is expected to touch $455 billion by 2023 at a compound annual growth rate of 17 percent. Digital adoption will gain even more traction as consumer and business habits across sectors in 2021, particularly education and payments, have already started changing. “Businesses, both online and offline, are keener than ever to partner with digital payment platforms to accelerate their growth. Just like work from home (WFH) ruled 2020, the hybrid work model is set to be an important part of 2021 and beyond. It is not just tech giants like Infosys and Wipro, which have switched to a hybrid working model post pandemic by adopting permanent WFH for part of their workforce. This hybrid model, say industry experts, has been well-received in manufacturing and services sectors as well. It could very well be adopted by Gujarat Inc in the post-Covid scenario.

S Mohini Ratna, Editor, VARINDIA