The sky is the limit for startups in India now, as the market conditions are favouring their growth. Tech usage is as essential as oxygen around which people’s lives revolve. Technology adoption by the masses has risen to phenomenal heights and the pace of absorption and need has been pushed by the pandemic. The intent of authorities to promote new ideas and the eager community of incubators cum accelerators giving all that they have to make products ready for the market, has created excitement in the startup ecosystem.
The healthcare sector in India has been flourishing and is one of its fastest-growing sectors. By next year, it may touch $ 370 billion, says the Central government. Healthtech is a game changer. It is forecasted to create 40 million jobs by 2030. Technologies like machine-learning, nanotech, IoT (internet of things), AI (artificial intelligence), robotics, and 3D printing have heavy applications in the healthcare sector. Incubator Ginserv’s Gincelerator programme provides the right ecosystem for startups with revolutionary ideas.
“The country is not short of ideas”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said recently. But mentors are required to help turn ideas into reality. “I want to tell our Startup founders that don’t limit yourselves to only valuations and exit strategy. Think how you can create institutions that will outlast this century. Think how you can create world-class products that will set a global benchmark of excellence,” Modi said at the inaugural session of the Nasscom Technology and Leadership Forum (NTLF) 2021.
The PM has assured the industry that the government is working to free the tech industry from unnecessary regulations. Startup accelerators foster the growth of a startup by providing the right support including funding, mentoring, market access and expansion. Startup accelerators play a key role in nurturing and leveraging ideas and Ginserv has made it big with focused hand-holding. The primary task of an accelerator is to scale up the entrepreneurial spirit. A product needs more than an idea to make a business succeed.
A heavenly moment arrives when investors join this conjunction of like-minded people. In July 2020, Sequoia Capital raised US$1.35 billion for its new Fund focused on investing in startups in India and Southeast Asia. Similarly, Google announced a US$10 billion fund to help accelerate India’s transition to a digital economy. Within the startup ecosystem, stakeholders are taking multiple initiatives for startups with grants and incubation programmes.
On the back of the pandemic, EdTech saw a huge boom in 2020, netting close to US$6 billion in funding, according to data provided by Tracxn. While investment into K12 EdTech and test preparation startups rose from previous years, investment into startups offering online courses category jumped six-fold in 2020 to US$1.8 billion.
This breeze of opportunities will positively impact the outlook with over 50 per cent of startups expecting revenues to reach pre-COVID levels within 6 months.
What do startups get from accelerator programmes like Ginserv’s Gincelerator? Building and managing a business is a wholly different world from an idea of innovation. A combination of business skills and technical depth along with a lineup of mentors and investors will lift a startup to the unicorn level. Accelerator and incubation units provide such readymade tools.
