Online payments space has fueled the internet
economy and has blurred the borders within India like never before. “Over the last five years, the focus has been around eCommerce which has sucked in most of the capital, that’s changing now with sectors like health, media, and education taking the limelight. There’s a lot of opportunity in different sectors especially in futuristic technologies like AI, Machine Learning, Deep Learning and the likes” says
Rajesh Sawhney who says that the most important thing about a startup is its product market fit.
At
Innerchef, a food company start-up Sawhney has founded, things have already changed in the past two years. “With the influx of technology, the way we consume food, the supply chain and the demand are all rapidly changing. Necessities like food become great opportunities for starting a business at this time in India,” says Sawhney who identified the sector basis his passion for consumption.
Agriculture, which is India’s largest employer, might be impacted by start-ups soon, specifically food –tech start-ups which can sway the demand for what we’re eating and how we are eating.
Sawhney also thinks that
companies are growing faster,”Earlier, the start-ups took years to fail or succeed which isn’t the case now. The market has become really brutal and companies know in the first few months whether it’s time to pivot or not.”
The Indian Consumption Story
Rajesh has made over 20
investments as an active angel investor, which include
Viki which was acquired by Rakutan, Little Eye Labs which was acquired by Facebook, Mobstac, Pokkt, Silverpush, Hackerearth, Browntape, Overcart, Flinto and Timesaverz.
GSF accelerator focuses on early stage
startups, and has currently taken in its fifth batch, which helps start-ups to turn into notable companies that they can bank on.
India’s biggest problem is that of resource management and technology can help aid that, “The key is to think of technology in a non-traditional way, and that’s where the start-ups can become truly successful,” says Sawhney who says that the quality and quantity of start-ups has improved.
Whether you’re a brand, you can’t ignore the Indian consumption story, “In the next decade, we will see the per capita income increasing and with disposable income increasing, we are bound to see a boom happen which is what all start-ups and investors are banking on,” says Rajesh, with a smug.
