The Evergreen Indian Startup Ecosystem

Indian Startups are vying for a leadership position not only in the Indian market but in the global market as well. 

Indian Ed-tech’s global conquest:

Byju’s hottest acquisition Whitehat Jr is the key to the American market. In 2019, the US accounted for over 38% of Ed-tech’s global revenue. Byju’s also acquired Osmo, a company that provides digital learning games for children. Byju’s is initially trying to target Indian parents abroad then trying to bring non-Indian customers onboard. Another Indian Ed-tech firm, Simplilearn, a digital upskilling and reskilling training provider is making significant inroads abroad. 60% of its revenue since the pandemic came from international markets.  UpGrad, another upskilling platform is also planning to expand into APAC, Middle East, USA, and UK by the end of 2021.

In 2020, Indian ed-tech startups have received a total investment of $2.2 billion, a whopping 4 times more than the previous year. K12 & Test preparation companies dominated the funding race with their total share of $1.98 billion. Another Indian start-up making a mark on the US ed-tech space is Skillmatics. The company manufactures its interactive educational kits for children in India and exports them abroad, a true embodiment of “Atmanirbhar Bharat”.

India’s SaaS start-ups set to dominate:

According to a report by Bain, Indian SaaS companies are set to capture 7-9% of the global SAAS market share by 2022. The relevance of SAAS companies has been enhanced by Covid as it is driving the demand for collaboration and productivity tools. SaaS firms like Zoho, Freshworks, Druva, and Icertis have already crossed $100 million in annual recurring revenues (ARR). Zoho Corp. based in Chennai and Texas is emerging as a superpower in the SaaS industry. It is expecting to touch the 1 million customer mark very soon.

Freshworks which acquired unicorn status back in 2018 has a footprint in key markets like the US and the UK. Globally 71% of the businesses are dependent on SaaS services to deliver their IT services efficiently. With the Indian SaaS company’s 9% global market share prediction, the future is indeed growth-oriented & more profitable for emerging new Indian startups and existing SaaS leaders like Web Engage and Cloud Cherry.

This rapid rise in Indian SaaS industry can be attributed to a few competitive advantages. Similar to the Indian IT industry, SaaS industry has an availability of a large pool of talent coupled with very low personnel costs. Also, credibility of Indian companies in the international market is on the rise.

Ride Hailing, Financial Services and Hotels

Indian start-up, Ola is another example of build in India and serve the world. Ola launched in Australia, New Zealand and UK. PayTm also has operations in Japan and is eyeing a US entry.  Another Indian company making it big abroad is OYO. It has already entered Nepal, Malaysia, China, UK and even the US. Indian Startups have received a total funding of almost $ 8.4 billion amidst the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. Even though its quite low as compared to the previous year, but the investors remained optimistic about the decade-long future growth of these startups.

All the above start-ups are from India are not only catering to the Indian market but also to overseas markets bringing in valuable foreign exchange and enhancing the “India brand”.

Source: MensXP, INC42 , and LiveMint