Emerging Start-ups during COVID-19
It was not long ago when this new virus started making headlines. Soon, it had its grip all over the world. The pandemic brought everything to a standstill. And now, when more than a year has passed, the situation is still grim. But, the times of distress also bring times to hope. Yeah, the quickly spreading pandemic of Coronavirus has put enormous pressure on large corporations and start-ups alike. Yes, the investors are anxious and the valuations are going down and professional employees are being laid off on a massive scale. However, calamity has always been a nurturer for innovation. If history teaches us anything, we have enough reasons to see the silver lining and make the most of these troubled times like several Indian startups have in the past year, emerging from the ashes of the downtrodden world and contributing to the rebuilding of human civilization which was left shocked by COVID-19. Hence, India’s flourishing ecosystem of start-ups stayed alert as new innovations were born, pushing it to re-imagine business for the post-pandemic environment.
In spite of the COVID crisis, Indian entrepreneurs are expected to have received $10.14 billion in funding from more than 1,200 deals in 2020, a report by consultancy company HexGn said. While the overall investment earned in 2020 is smaller than in 2019 ($14.5 billion), the number of deals, the study said, was 20% higher. This is the third year in a row that India has maintained its number four status internationally, behind the US, China, and the United Kingdom. The study reported that Bengaluru, Delhi NCR, and Mumbai accounted for 90% of the country’s start-up investments, indicating the emphasis and interest of angel investors in these areas. In terms of sectors, e-commerce attracted the highest investment with $3 billion, followed by fintech at $2.37 billion and edtech at $1.52 billion.
“The most useful and influential people in the world are those who take the deepest interest in institutions that exist for the purpose of making the world better.” — Booker T. Washington
The budding entrepreneurs of the country have seen this pandemic as an opportunity and have innovated in a way that not only makes people’s lives easier in times when everything has gone online but also reduces the burden on their pockets. In this blog, we’ll see some of those startups and how they impacted the market.
Ather Energy
Ather Energy is responsible for developing India’s first intelligent electric scooter. The automotive sector is in the middle of an unparalleled technical revolution. In times when fossil fuel reserves are shrinking and increasing environmental degradation, electric vehicles provide a sustainable option and looking at the current traffic scenarios of India, scooters are the way to go. They have also put together a network for charging electric vehicles called AtherGrid. The company is based in Bangalore and was founded by Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain. Their manufacturing facility is set up in Whitefield. In the near future, vehicles equipped with AI technology are set to fundamentally transform the way we commute, and Ather Energy is at the cusp of this exciting reality.
Kissht
Kissht is a financial technology platform that offers personal loans to its customers to buy electronic gadgets, kitchen appliances, and other items on the digital point of sale. Mumbai based startup, Kissht allows its consumers to pay for their online orders in monthly instalments, even if they don’t have a credit card. During these times, when a majority of the population is facing a financial crunch and with everything going online, electronic gadgets form the backbone of day-to-day lives of the common workforce as well as the students, hence the startup has emerged as a winner during the pandemic. The organization has partnered with over 3,000 retail outlets and over 50 online merchant partners in the last few years. It now plans to utilize future funds to increase its online and offline merchant base and deepen its presence across categories.
Zerodha
Zerodha is an Indian consumer finance company that provides its clients retail and institutional broking and trading services. Founded in 2010, it has now become the number 1 broker in India with over 1 million clients across NSE, BSE, and MCX. The pandemic has caused one of the biggest economic slumps the country has ever seen. Due to the dire financial impact, more and more people have realized the importance of saving and investing and the stock market has emerged as one of the most popular areas of investment for the Indian youth. Hence, Zerodha emerged during the COVID crisis and provided the perfect platform for everyone. It also has over 1000 members in its multilingual support team who answer their clients’ queries over phone and e-mail. It now has a national network of associates to offer its clients regional hands-on assistance.
Donatekart
Donatekart is India’s most reliable and transparent online fundraising platform. It is the country’s first completely transparent online fundraising platform for charities, where people can directly donate essential commodities instead of cash. Over 100 million people in India live below the poverty line, surviving on a day-to-day basis and these are the people who were hit hardest when the virus arrived and the country was in a state of complete lockdown. This startup provided a seamless platform for people to help one of their own and power through the pandemic together. Its vision is to bring more transparency to online donations so that they provide an opportunity for every Indian & NRI to give back to society confidently. It delivered more than 4Million products worth 8 crores from 55,000+ donors to 700+ NGOs across India.
Cure.Fit
Cure.Fit was established in 2016. It is an app-based tool that allows its users to create a healthier lifestyle through the implementation of healthy habits and diets. The app helps its customers adopt healthy means to fulfil their health needs, be it food, fitness, or meditation. Being healthy became a matter of utmost importance during the pandemic. Taking care of oneself both physically and mentally has never been so crucial. Hence, this startup provided an indefectible platform, which helped the users to balance their body and mind in their homes. It currently has over half a million active users on a monthly basis, comprising of gym users and the users of EatFit.
Gully Network
Gully Network is India’s first online platform for small format Omnichannel stores. It aids offline retailers to cope with the ever-dynamic purchase behaviour of Indian consumers. Its high tech AI platform takes care of the entire value chain (Sales, Margins, Automatic Inventory Replenishment, Finance, and Merchandising) for the retailers and generates additional income other than their primary business. The MSMEs in the country have suffered a lot due to the ongoing pandemic; with the government also providing aids and opportunities to the sector this startup helps retailers to wield the power of technology. It ensures an increase in the net income of retailers with no day to day hassles. It also offers the best of both worlds to its consumers i.e. savings and experience of online platforms and the seamless availability of offline regional stores.
Pee Safe
Pee Safe, founded in 2013, launched its toilet seat sanitiser, the first of its kind in the country. Since then, the company has expanded into several personal hygiene categories including feminine hygiene (pads, tampons, cups, etc.), men’s intimate hygiene, hand hygiene (Palm Safe), face mask, and mist (Pollution Safe). Since the virus has engulfed the world, one of the most prominent and effective ways of keeping it at bay is personal hygiene. The significance of personal and intimate hygiene has never been higher, and this startup not only provides accurate products for that but also educates its consumers about the necessity of being hygienic and thus helps them be safe from COVID as well as other illnesses. While being one of the leaders in the sector, this startup has worked tirelessly to eliminate many taboos related to personal and intimate hygiene.
The Indian start-up scene is intense and no more a cesspool of me-too companies trying to get some venture capital funding to increase valuations. All the businesses have solid financial models, are remarkable in terms of the qualifications of their founders, and also have some pioneers. And by providing groundbreaking services and goods in times of need some of them are now operating all over the world, demonstrating the immense potential of digital platforms. Hence, they play a crucial role in pulling the country out of this pit named COVID-19.
Disclaimer: The thoughts shared on this blog are independent views of the Author and the E-Cell, NIT Raipur does not necessarily encourage it.
