The Tech Ecosystem And The Billion Dollar Valuations in India: An Opportunity for You?

By Rohit Gupta:

Ten years ago, nobody would have imagined that our retail habits will alter so swiftly towards the digital domain. The young Entrepreneurs of our nation are exercising their technology niche to explore uncharted territories, doing away with the cushy corporate set-up to take the plunge into the entrepreneurial setup. Welcome to India4Technology.com!

There are many reasons for this deluge of tech-start ups on the Indian horizon, the primary reason being the increasing internet penetration across major cities and towns, which has invariably resulted in a bigger market. The VC’s and Angel investors are relatively open to the concept of technology startups nowadays, unlike the past decade. The growing technological workforce only adds to the formula, producing folks who can leverage their technical and operational know-how to procreate functional set-ups.

The culture of tech-start ups is not that new in our country. Naukri.com was set-up in 1997, proving to be one of the pioneers of this concept. The list of notable start-ups is endless: 99acres.com, cleartrip.com, makemytrip.com, mouthshut.com, yatra.com, snapdeal.com etc.! These tech start-ups changed the way we consume products and services, and also prove cheaper than the brick-and mortar equivalent due to less inventory and related costs. Moreover, a big plus and also a crucial one; they require relatively less amount of seed capital to begin, sometimes nil! Zomato.com, a food and nightlife portal; is a prime example which started from zilch and now has a valuation in Millions.

They are growing of course, and really fast. Flipkart.com was launched in 2007 and now a prominent player in e-commerce; started with a seed capital of Rs. 4 lac and clocked revenue upwards of Rs. 70 crore in the FY 2010-11. Snapdeal.com was launched in 2010, and now boasts of more than 1 lac users, and clocked revenue of Rs. 80 Crore in FY 2011-12! The strong work ethics and an enhanced customer service compensate for their virtual disposition and the extensive marketing budget serves well to align these companies with the mainstream segments of our society.

The efforts are aplenty, and are certainly more than what meets the eye. Interviewstreet, an IT start-up started by two alumni of NIT, began as a college project and now helps companies to screen candidates with good programming skills. ‘Aspiring Minds’ conducts a standardized recruitment test- AMCAT and works as a matchmaker between employees and employers. Some of the more recent ones are: Meritnation.com, an online education and assessment company, Cashitback.com offering cash-back services, Knowlarity.com providing cloud telephony services and Practo.com providing web based clinic management system.

The tech ecosystem is surely developing in India and the increasing online presence of businesses serve as an auto-catalyst. This flurry of tech-based start-ups ensure a better experience for us, the consumers and we never know what might be the next big thing. Let me update my status on Facebook!