A Focus on Indian Startup Investment

Companies from the last decade had to build the infrastructure on things like logistics, payment on their own. One can see an exceptional competitive intensity fuelled by supply of capital and entry of global players.

Newer business models will emerge in existing categories

A category is never “taken” and there is always scope for a new player to disrupt existing ones with a superior operating model. For instance, the C2C product commerce space has well-funded and large incumbents such as Quikr and Olx. But Zefo was still able to break into this market by providing a superior customer experience with a different operating model and instilling trust between the buyer and the seller.

More and more sectors of the Indian economy will be rebuilt by tech companies

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Several sectors have incumbents which have done a poor job of customer service. Over time, most of them would become addressable to tech entrepreneurs and new companies will be built with a tech core, superior customer focus and stronger management. Venturing as an entrepreneur means vying a stake in the next decade’s $5 trillion Indian economy.

View From Abroad on the India’s Startup Space

The view of Indian startups from abroad is promising for these early-stage investors who see a mix of homegrown innovation that addresses local problems, and a big market to boot. For instance, when Mumbai-based startup Repaireasy was looking for funding, it found support from angel investors not just at home but also as far away as Australia.

"We are very bullish on the Indian startup market and certainly there will be many more deals to come," said Ben James, an Australian who joined forces with compatriot Chris Dorrough to participate in a funding round for Repaireasy, which specializes in fixing electronic gadgets. "The sky is the limit," said James.

The Indian Angel Network, the country's largest, estimates that over 20% of investors on its platform are based overseas, and this is only increasing. Foreign-based wealthy individuals are aware that India is one of the vibrant places for innovation, and they want a piece of the action for themselves, said IAN president Padmaja Ruparel.

The focus in Indian start-up investment has decidedly shifted from Scalability to Sustainability along with expected consolidations.

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