Pandemic from previous year gave us all a tough time. Especially for start-ups who just began. With this following bright year, the new 2021 start-ups are moving towards stability in an accelerated and motivated fashion. Opportunities are presenting themselves; new businesses avenues are budding and start-ups are back again. Government of India this year recognised 50,000 startups across the country-helping them avail the benefit across the range of law and regulations.
This year has paved way for some of the emerging start-up trends:
Focus on various business aspects
Start-ups are now focusing on a wide variety of aspects such as data management, cybersecurity, marketing of brands, convenience and speed for customers, reliability of software, work from home operational ease, etc. So, unlike earlier, now more attention is given to customization/personalization incorporated in main business idea.
Followers are bringing more business
Social connection is new way of marketing and putting your brand out there. Not only that, businesses are socially more valued if they stand for a cause and try to build something around it. Infact, more and more new age customers want to be associated with companies having social ethics and good work culture.
Advanced tech awareness and affirmation
New normal has made businesses to accept digitization than ever before worldwide. This involved embracing new technologies & platforms. One such emerging trend is boom of 'no-code start-ups'. No-code refers to web and mobile development using a drag-and-drop interface, rather than programming languages and raw code. It requires much less, or even zero coding knowledge.
Even professional web developers often use no-code solutions as an accelerated way to build prototypes or MVPs. They are brilliant solution for common people looking forward to integrate technology in their business. Examples are Wix, Shopify, Dukan, Zoho or Appypie.
AI is trending
Businesses of all kinds, including start-ups and enterprises are heavily investing in AI technologies. A growing set of start-ups rely on AI tools to outstrip competitors and ramp up the business. Be it chatbots, 1:1 virtual meeting, data driven decisions or help setting digital campaigns and content creation. Few examples are Coffeemug, Lunchclub, Haptik AI and Discovery AI
WFH helps in cost optimization
The pandemic has paved a new road to the concept of working remotely. Start-ups are keen to stick to this model of working so that they can lessen other expense areas, especially when they are in the beginning phase.
Growing demand in health and wellness start-ups
Going virtual only seem logical as it easily provides variety of services online at customer’s convenience. The health and wellness segment are two such areas that have shown great demand over the last year and continues to do so. Start-ups such as Curefit, Pharmeasy, mfine and Qure.ai are few names in this sector.
Ecommerce and EdTech startups go strong
Having so many startups going online, it is needless to say that E-commerce and EdTech are two sectors that continue to stay in demand. Worldwide start-up entrepreneurs are keen to invest in these areas to come up with effective solutions. To name a few start-ups in this area- Nykaa, Lenskart, Bigbasket, Awign and classplus.
Increase in wealth-tech start-ups
India’s Fintech ecosystem and the underlying opportunities have earned global recognition over the last five years. Digital payments and digital lending being have already earned a status in this field and it continues to grow with many new ventures coming up. But there is an emergence of another critical subsegment of fintech with significant opportunities i.e., the 'wealth-tech market' which is poised to grow to over $60 bn1 by FY25, from its current market size of $20 bn. Some players in this field are-Zerodha, Upstox, Sharekhan, ICICI Direct, Groww, Scripbox and Kuvera.