The Growth Of The Indian Startup Ecosystem In 2019

The years 2015 to 2018 saw the startup ecosystem in India grow by leaps and bounds. Although 2018 wasn’t as hectic as  2015, it still shaped a lot of trends in terms of how the Indian startup ecosystem is going to grow this year. With over $ 12.64 billion raised through 855 deals, the startup ecosystem also grew exponentially with the number of Indian startups who entered the Unicorn club increasing to 10! With almost a week into the year 2019, it is going to be truly exciting to see how this year looks for the startup ecosystem and the kinds of trends that are going to be the highlights of this year!

1. Blockchain

As blockchain as an industry matures and grows over time, the field is going to require a new range of specialists dedicated to just this field in its entirety. Sectors like brain computer interface, quantum computing and improving efficiency in business processes are using blockchain with increasing frequency. Through this, the amount of time you spend on the daily tasks reduce drastically. With a finger in almost every major sector, blockchain has the potential to quite literally change the startup world for the better.

2. Data Analytics

With more startups and companies thinking of monetizing all their assets, data analytics is the next big thing in the startup world, especially for 2019. Further, through content monetizing, comes the thought of creating original, unique and relevant content. From adding new services to the existing ones, to creating completely new business models, data analytics as a field is here to change the way startups work and function.

3. Revisiting the roots

Startups in India have slowly but surely realised the importance of sticking to the roots and using regional languages in the kind of products they develop. Startups in all the major fields (e commerce, edtech, news based and information providers) are all realising the major advantage of using regional languages is, it has the power to attract new customers, especially for people who belong to regions where English isn’t a first language and are are accessing the internet for the first time. In fact, by enabling regional languages for Alexa and other assistants, Google and Amazon have already realised the benefits of using languages other than Hindi as a part of their services.

4. The return of the foodtech industry

In 2015, the foodtech industry started the ball rolling for an all new industry in the startup world. Through the years, with the arrival of various startups in this field (Swiggy and Zomato, to name a few,) there was a sudden rise in interest in this field not just from consumers, but from the investors as well. By 2018, things took a major upward jump for this field, with the highest players (Swiggy and Zomato) not only doing exceedingly well, but also entering the coveted Unicorn club! To pile up to an already high table, other players like FoodPanda and UberEats are also increasing the competition, thereby improving the way people eat and the choices people have.

5. Artificial Intelligence

Characterized by the ability of learning and reasoning across a broad range of tasks, the year 2019 is going to see AI evolve from a narrow use of the term to a much broader and more spread out usage. From streamlining the different processes, to integrating a system across various areas, artificial intelligence is likely to be used in quite literally every field this year. According to the 2018 year end reports, the AI field is expected to be valued at almost $ 15.5 trillion, out of which, India is expected to have a $ 3 trillion stake.

With so many fields shaping the startup world this year, it is going to be interesting to look at how the ecosystem looks by the end of 2019. If you think we missed out on any other trends which are taking over the startup world, comment and let us know!