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<ul class="summary-list"><li>Antler India plans to invest in 120 startups over four years with a $75 million fund.</li><li>The firm runs cohorts for individual founders and teams, selecting 100 from up to 5,000 applicants.</li></ul>This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Rajiv Srivatsa, a partner at Antler India, a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/founders-putting-startup-dreams-on-hold-in-the-tech-downturn-2024-7">pre-seed venture capital firm</a> based in Bengaluru. It has been edited for length and clarity.I'm a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/landed-vc-job-varied-resume-diverse-experience-resume-2024-8">partner</a> at Antler India, an early-stage <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/startup-success-secret-vcs-founders-nate-silver-on-the-edge-2024-8">venture capital</a> fund. We launched the India chapter about four years ago, and it was the firm's sixth location globally. Antler India has a $75 million fund, which we closed in March.Our plan is to invest in 120 <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/more-startups-get-bought-up-by-private-equity-vc-2024-8">startups </a>over four years, and we have about 65 to date.The classic Antler model includes running a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/top-vc-firms-funding-creator-economy-startups-next-phase-2024-6">cohort of individuals </a>who are transitioning from being employees to startup founders. We help them look for their cofounders and give shape to their idea.One thing we do differently in India is we run a cohort for teams as well. We found that there is a social tendency for people to prefer going into business with people they have known from college or work, and we welcome founders who may already have a team or product in mind.My team and I receive about <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-apply-y-combinator-application-down-market-successful-2022-8">4,000 to 5,000 applications</a>, and we select 100 people to join our individual founders' cohort. The program runs for six months, and we end up investing in 20-25 people, or eight to 10 companies. We give them a sum of $250,000 to fund their idea, and another $250,000 once they raise additional capital.I've been a founder myself and have run a company in the 2010s. I have seen two main positive shifts in the Indian startup market.It is a lot easier to attract talent than it was 10 years ago. There was a lot of entitlement and questioning from potential employees, because working for startups instead of long-established companies was seen as a risk. Since the pandemic, there has been a shift, and people are keen to join startups.Founders are getting more mature by the year and have a better understanding of what it takes.They're more frugal because they know capital is tight and they have given their industry more thought. They're not getting into business because something is hot and are instead building for the next five to 10 years. They also assume that their products will need higher traction to raise the same amount of money that would have been invested in them before.Here are five things I look for in <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sequoia-partner-jess-lee-advice-for-startup-founders-2022-9">first-time founders</a>:<h2 id="5a01f9b1-7907-4c47-aa10-ead284c40a4d">Five founder traits</h2>Execution and strategy: This is their ability to iterate fast — move between ideas, drop things, and find something new quickly.We also seek people who have ideas that match their skill sets. For example, we don't want to invest in an AI company where none of the founders have solid tech expertise. In the early or "zero to one" and "one to 10" stages, founders have to be able to do things on their own.Grit and tenacity: Either in their personal life or professional life.Customer obsession: We spend the longest time gauging how obsessed a founder is with their customer and problem statement. We want to know if it's just a flash in the pan or if it's something they have been debating over many years. Does the founder really feel the pain of the customer?We want people who are not just armchair experts but have worked with customers and gotten their hands dirty. Someone who has spent their professional life making presentations and in conference rooms may not cut it.Communication: Another thing we look for is a high level of clarity in thinking and how they communicate. At the end of the day, venture capital is a continuous fundraising game — you have to always keep finding good talent, as well as keep telling new investors and the media your story.We try to gauge if the person is getting mixed up, or if they're clear about what they're doing.Ambition and scale: The venture capital industry does not work if you want small outcomes. Even if you don't want to be a unicorn, a startup that is valued at $1 billion, you still need to think in terms of hundreds of millions of dollars of valuation and foresee hundreds of millions of people using your product.<h2 id="019aa888-dfdf-4ac4-bda4-422664c1e934">Plus an X-factor</h2>We don't look for people who score about 80% to 100% on each of these criteria. Instead, we prefer if, for one to two of the five traits, they demonstrate a spike or an X factor — they immediately stand out as someone who is world-class when it comes to execution or communication, for example.We want people who are terrible at some things but exceptional at others.<h2 id="e8cf18ff-f29f-4d97-9753-7fe9d1705a42">Cofounder complements</h2>Most of our participants look for their cofounders after they've entered the cohort, and we spend a lot of time and attention matching people.In my experience, India is not a country where teaching communication is emphasized a lot, so we ask each participant 60 questions to understand their values, working styles, and personality types. We look for complements and see pair-ups between one person with a technical background and one person with business acumen. If a third cofounder is needed, they usually come with operations expertise.One company we recently funded is working on listening to conversations between employees and customers in retail stores, in order to provide retail data to convert more customers. It was the outcome of someone who has worked in retail for years, paired up with a cofounder with tech background.Are you a founder who moved to India to launch their own startup? Please reach out at shubhangigoel@insider.com

I'm a VC in the world's fastest-growing economy. I look for 5 traits in first-time founders.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Some expat Indians are moving back home to launch companies of their own.</li><li>India's booming market size, internet growth, and post-pandemic spending is driving their decision.</li></ul>Nithin Hassan, 41, has always been fascinated with building something of his own.As a child in India, he would get in trouble for dismantling electronics around the house just so he could peek inside.In college, in true <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/startups-to-bet-your-career-on-in-2024-2024-2">startup</a> fashion, he started working on a small business out of his parent's garage in Bengaluru, assembling computers for friends and family.It was the early 2000s and the internet was not the trove of knowledge it is today — Hassan was relying on books to learn. Finding mentorship and the right guidance was a challenge, too.Everyone around Hassan told him that going to the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/resume-tips-google-software-engineer-skills-experience-careers-software-tech-2024-3">US for a master's degree</a> was the next big opportunity. So he did.Over the next 16 years, he put his startup plans on hold and worked at some of the world's biggest companies, including Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta.<div type="image" title="Nithin Hassan" height="2450" width="3266" msid="113831978" hostid="261" sizebytes="215682"></div>But the pandemic felt like a turning point. And its aftermath made India look like a lab-designed business environment: It had just become the world's most populous country, the pandemic had created <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/indicators/private-consumption-continues-to-be-supported-by-pent-up-demand-finance-ministry/articleshow/99069973.cms?from=mdr">pent-up demand</a> for consumer products, and growing internet adoption made commerce more scalable, he said.So Hassan left behind about $500,000 in annual pay at Meta to move back to Bengaluru in December 2023 with his wife and two children. He has since launched two startups.Hassan is part of a group of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/i-moved-back-to-india-after-living-abroad-for-decade-2024-9">expat Indians moving back</a> home to venture out on their own. As such, he's also part of a decades-long trend of reverse migration back to India.The trend began in the 1990s and picked up at the turn of the century, driven by the economic collapse in 2008, said Binod Khadria, the president of Global Research Forum on Diaspora and Transnationalism. Many of those who returned to India for work were largely working for multinational companies.Today, the impetus for the move often looks a bit different: It's driven by factors like unstable visa policies and economic recessions, which lead to uncertainty when it comes to jobs and duration of stay in these destinations.Many returnees find work in tech, but the finance, retail, and climate sectors also absorb a large number of expat Indians, Khadia said. And some of the returnees are heading back to India to start companies of their own.India is undergoing a startup explosion. The country reported over<a target="_blank" href="https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=2043805"> 140,800 recognized startups</a> at the end of June — nearly 50,000 more than last year — and credited them with creating 1.6 million direct jobs.To be sure, not all of these companies will make it big — and some do still stumble, like <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://inc42.com/features/what-are-the-current-problems-being-faced-by-oyo/">Oyo </a>and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/blackrock-hsbc-funds-byjus-startup-valuation-zero-edtech-india-raveendran-2024-6">Byju's</a>. But the chaos, where even established startups are trying and failing, makes India a fair playing field for new entrants, Hassan said.Business Insider spoke to six <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/india-vc-wants-see-5-traits-new-founders-fundraising-antler-2024-8">first-time founders </a>about why they have recently returned to India after spending several years, or even an adult life, abroad.<h2 id="0e4a3c47-ba19-4690-8b52-c6bfece1c81d">Fastest-growing economy</h2>The health of the economy and interest from investors are fueling the entrepreneurship boom.<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/india-billionaire-karan-adani-plans-challenge-china-dominance-seaports-2024-8">India's economic growth</a> in 2023 — 8.2% — was the fastest of all large economies worldwide. That's led to greater purchasing power, which lets companies, including startups, sell more.India's inflation rate of about 3.5% is well below its annual wage growth of 9.6%. This makes inflation less of a challenge than it is for slower-growing peers, where consumer-focused businesses have been <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/economy-jobs-report-sentiment-consumers-elections-recession-inflation-mortgage-rates-2024-9">hurt by high prices</a>.Investors are getting in on the action.From 2015 to 2021, the number of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sequoia-capital-vc-firm-split-china-india-2023-6">unique investors in India</a> nearly quadrupled, though the number is tracking much lower this year, per PitchBook."Other than a slight downturn in 2022 and 2023 due to global macroeconomic factors, VC funding has been consistently growing in India," said Ben Mathias, a managing partner at Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia &amp; India.Besides funding, domestic developments have encouraged founders and VCs too, Mathias said.The Indian government's Universal Payment Interface system has spurred consumers and businesses to pay online, and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.bcg.com/press/2june2022-digital-payments-in-india-projected-to-reach-10-trillion-by-2026">40% of all digital payments</a> globally happen in India today, the partner said.Programs like Startup India, which provides founders benefits like tax exemption, easier compliance, and funding support, have made creating a company smoother.Devyani Parameshwar worked in the microfinance and fintech space in India in the 2010s before heading to the UK and Africa. She returned to India in 2022 to launch a financial management venture."It's changed dramatically. I remember standing in line at various ministries in Delhi trying to get meetings and then trying to get answers and it wasn't easy in the past," she said of her memories of India.Now, she can use an online platform to ask the country's central bank and banking regulator questions.It's easier than ever for foreign companies to invest in India, which means startups have a clearer exit path through acquisition — something VCs think hard about before entering new markets or writing checks.<h2 id="e5dd7b6f-a09f-4ff2-84c1-5907de96dc5e">Market ripe for the taking</h2>For Rohan Bhide, who spent most of his college and professional life <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/worked-in-big-tech-before-launching-my-own-startup-engineer-2024-9">preparing to launch something of his own</a>, a trip home in 2017 while he was studying in the US was a turning point.Indian telecom giant Reliance had recently launched a cheap unlimited data plan, which spiked Indian internet adoption. India was charting among the countries with the highest online transactions."That really, really drew my attention," said Bhide, who worked at Meta after graduation. "It was my dream come true — a huge market, a huge user base, and at the same time, the ability to adopt technology was incredible."Bhide returned to India in January, leaving behind about $580,000 in total compensation at ticketing platform StubHub. He and a cofounder are working on launching a consumer tech product later this year.<div type="image" title="Rohan Bhide" height="2304" width="3072" msid="113831979" hostid="261" sizebytes="218468"></div>Most Indians grew up wanting to work at a multinational company — but that's changing, Bhide said.Freelancing, running your own business, or working for a startup is much more socially acceptable now, because people see the success of other Indian startups. The country has the third-largest number of "unicorns" — companies worth $1 billion or more — with 64, per PitchBook.<h2 id="7f423804-745b-4e04-a250-839e01663f09">Boom in entrepreneurship culture</h2>A lot has changed since Hassan first wanted to launch his hardware startup in the early 2000s.Tech hot spots like Bengaluru and Gurugram have seen a boom in entrepreneurship culture in the last few years, with meet-ups, networking mixers, and even morning walks with like-minded builders.<div type="image" title="man standing in front of mountains in USA" height="2268" width="3024" msid="113831980" hostid="261" sizebytes="141132"></div>Dhruv Anand, who left Google in the US to move back to India in 2021 to launch an <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-startups-most-promising-2024-9">AI startup</a>, said that there were lots of other founders and mentors to help guide him."If you want to figure out who's the right chartered accountant to talk to, who's the right lawyer to help you draft agreements, all of that stuff is very easy," Anand said."It's been a really, really supportive community," Bhide said. There are people "telling you about their entire lives just because they want to help you and they're hoping that you pass the favor onto the next person who moves to India and wants to start their own company."<h2 id="3c8bff36-e855-4530-9b44-bcc7f36b0825">Not everything is perfect</h2>Although these founders made the decision to return to India, that doesn't mean they no longer see the benefits of operating in the US.Ruchit Garg founded an agriculture startup in Silicon Valley in 2016, with a focus on supporting farmers around the globe. In 2019, he returned to India, where his late grandfather worked as a farmer.Garg has been building in India ever since, but he says its startup ecosystem cannot yet compete with the Valley's decades of experience."The overall ecosystem was more mature back in Silicon Valley. It's still one of the best places for entrepreneurs. India isn't there yet, although it's growing pretty drastically," he said.Despite efforts to digitalize key processes, many bureaucratic challenges persist.For most founders, after living in US cities where populations are a fraction of those in Mumbai and Bangalore, congested roads and poorer air quality are also everyday annoyances.But India provides some big perks, including affordable domestic help and the appeal of building solutions for problems they witness firsthand."It's a different joy to be able to build for problems that you feel for very personally," Parameshwar, the fintech founder, said. When she worked in Africa, she needed translators. Now, she can speak with her users herself.Bhide said the general sentiment among local founders is shifting from "Build from India" to "Build for India."For some founders, being surrounded by family and the culture they grew up in was another selling point.Niranjan Vemulkar moved back to India in 2015 and later founded a digital legacy planning platform.He said that he never fully felt at home in the US, where he lived for over a decade."For us, it was the fact that we wanted to raise a family in an environment where the children would have access to the grandparents and Indian culture," Vemulkar said. "The fact that you could come back to India, start something of your own and figure things out in an ecosystem which was potentially booming for startups, was just a cherry on the cake."Are you in India and have a story to share about the tech and entrepreneurship landscape? Please reach out at shubhangigoel@insider.com

Some techies are leaving cushy Silicon Valley jobs to launch startups at home in India

<ul><li>According to reports, the deal is in its final stages of negotiations. </li><li>The deal would give Swiggy a bigger hand to take on rival Zomato. </li><li>Swiggy had earlier announced that it is going to start grocery and medicine delivery too. </li></ul>Swiggy had a great 2018, grabbing the unicorn status. And now Swiggy wants a bigger share of the plate as it is in talks with Uber to take over the operations of <keyword id="4704786" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="UberEATS-India">Ubereats India</keyword>. According to a report on the <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/newsbuzz/uber-eats-india-likely-to-end-up-on-swiggys-plate/articleshow/68105369.cms">Economic Times</a>, the deal is in its final stages of negotiation and is expected to close by next month. The report further mentions that the deal could be a share swap, where Swiggy in exchange for taking over Ubereats will give the ride hailing company Uber a 10% stake. Earlier <a href="https://www.businesstoday.in/current/corporate/ubereats-on-sale-swiggy-zomato-competing-acquire-food-delivery-app-report/story/321164.html">reports</a> also suggested that Zomato and Swiggy both were looking at acquiring Ubereats India operations. Both the companies together hold 80% of the online food delivery space in India. With Swiggy reportedly leading the race for acquisition now, the deal would give the company a better stand to take on rival Zomato. Ubereats launched in India in 2016 and has grown considerably over time. Jason Droege, global head of Ubereats told <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/newsbuzz/india-fastest-growing-market-for-ubereats/articleshow/66384076.cms">ET </a>that its India wing has grown seven fold in order volume in the past six months in India, while adding over 4,500 delivery partners each week. Swiggy became one of India’s fastest unicorn in June last year, getting the prime status in just four years of operations. In December 2018, the food delivery startup further raked up a whopping <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/newsbuzz/with-1-b-new-money-and-3-3-b-valuation-swiggy-turns-swaggy/articleshow/67186809.cms">$1 billion</a> in funding, taking up its valuation to $3.3 billion. “With this funding, we will further invest in building differentiated offerings, plugging the white spaces in the ecosystem, and developing our technology while keeping superlative customer experience at the core," said Sriharsha Majety, CEO, Swiggy had then <a href="https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/308736">said</a>. The startup is also expanding its <a href="https://www.businesstoday.in/current/corporate/not-only-food-swiggy-will-also-delivery-groceries-medicines-vegetables-at-your-doorstep/story/318547.html">offering</a>, as it announced earlier in February, that it will soon start delivery of groceries, medicines and more. It has also been on an acquisition spree – it <a href="https://www.livemint.com/Companies/AOxcPY6Gu57vSsOLz5whiM/Swiggy-acquires-ondemand-delivery-platform-Scootsy.html">acquired</a> on demand delivery platform Scootsy to leverage the Scootsy’s existent network of restaurants and grow its consumer base. It had also acqui-hired the gourmet Asian food startup 48east. On the technology side, Swiggy had also taken over Bengaluru-based AI startup Kint.io. “This acqui-hire is part of Swiggy's strategy to scale our tech prowess by bringing in entrepreneurial teams that can solve unique customer problems,” said Dale Vaz, Head of Engineering and Data Sciences, Swiggy had told <a href="https://tech.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/startups/swiggy-acquires-bengaluru-based-ai-startup-kint-io/67829829">ETtech</a>. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/swiggy-and-zomato-are-being-targeted-for-misusing-dominant-position-in-a-petition-filed-with-indias-competition-watchdog/articleshow/67376953.cms">Swiggy and Zomato are being targeted for ‘misusing dominant position’ in a petition filed with India’s competition watchdog</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/indian-food-delivery-startup-swiggy-raises-1-billion-in-nasper-led-funding-round/articleshow/67187165.cms">Indian food delivery startup Swiggy raises $1 billion in Nasper-led funding round</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/for-indian-startups-2018-has-been-a-year-of-bouncing-back-as-venture-capital-funding-doubles/articleshow/67286540.cms">For Indian startups, 2018 has been a year of bouncing back as venture capital funding doubles</a>

Swiggy wants more on its plate, in talks to acquire Ubereats India

<ul><li><keyword id="6358977" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="swiggy">Swiggy</keyword> which turns 5 today, was one of India’s fastest startups to turn unicorn in 2018.</li><li>The startup which also started delivering groceries, has added 240 cities just in 2019 so far. </li><li>Swiggy claims it gets 43 <keyword id="41887" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="biryani">biryani</keyword> orders per minute, while Subway, Domino’s, McDonald’s and Burger King lead order numbers.</li></ul>Indian <keyword id="3105315" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Foodtech">foodtech</keyword> unicorn Swiggy has come a long way from its inception in 2014. Founded by Sriharsha Majety, Nandan Reddy, and Rahul Jaimini, the food aggregator had in 2018 become India’s fastest unicorn. In December 2018, the food delivery startup further raked up a whopping $1 billion in funding, taking up its valuation to $3.3 billion. And the startup is also expanding its offerings moving on from just food delivery to groceries, medicines and more. Here’s a look at the interesting facts and figures of the foodtech unicorn <div type="Slideshow" msid="70566316" hostid="261" title="Swiggy turns five – the unicorn has gone from 6 delivery partners in 1 city to 200,000 in 290 cities" firstImageMsid="70566317" slideCount="4"></div>

Swiggy turns five – the unicorn has gone from 6 delivery partners in 1 city to 200,000 in 290 cities

<ul><li><keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword>'s first social commerce platform has turned 1.23 lakh small business owners into lakhpatis. </li><li><keyword id="3480589" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="meesho" source="Orion">Meesho</keyword> has overtaken <keyword id="18635" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="amazon" source="Orion">Amazon</keyword> and <keyword id="6354742" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="flipkart" source="Orion">Flipkart</keyword> in terms of user penetration in tier 2 to tier 4 cities of India. </li><li>Compressed app size, explainer videos on doing business, monthly visits to households of small businessmen is how Meesho is capturing India’s rural heartland. </li></ul>At 13 years of age, <keyword id="15066970" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="divyanjali-mishra" source="Orion">Divyanjali Mishra</keyword> is a year short of the legal age to work in India but the entrepreneurial bug bit this teen after she saw her brother-in-law become successful online. She too followed the same path to make and sell t-shirts, wallets and belts on Meesho – an enterprise that made her a <keyword id="23267" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="crorepati" source="Orion">crorepati</keyword> before she turned 18. Her businesses HK Traders and Parthasarathi Enterprises have an annual turnover of ₹24 crore, processing 3,000-4,000 orders per day that she receives from Meesho. Her business now employs over 30 women – all under the age of 23 and coming from economically weaker backgrounds. <div type="image" title="Divyanjali Mishra" msid="94399483" hostid="261" sizebytes="34420"></div> Light and fast Social commerce app Meesho has given wings to many such young, restless, ambitious and talented entrepreneurs across the country – at least 8,000 sellers on Meesho have turned crorepatis since January 2021. As many as 1.23 lakh small business owners have turned into lakhpatis on Meesho. With over 127 million users in August 2022 alone, what is driving this unicorn's customer and seller growth? One trait that’s common between Meesho and its sellers is speed. "Our vision is to democratise internet e-commerce. When the cost of trying out a business online is massively reduced and onboarding happens within 12 hours, more sellers come onboard," said <keyword id="1893518" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="megha-agarwal" source="Orion">Megha Agarwal</keyword>, CXO, user growth at Meesho, in an interview with Business Insider India. It also has features unique to small businesses and new enterprises – like the 7-day payment feature. When these sellers are paid faster, they can re-invest faster and hence chase growth. It also helps cover some risks with the ‘Zero penalty’ feature, where sellers are not penalised for self or auto cancellation of orders, Meesho said. Meesho's app is also the lightest e-commerce app in India at 13.6 MB. Flipkart’s app takes up 18 MB of space while Amazon requires 59 MB. "Our customers are mostly from tier 2, tier 3 and tier 4 cities of India. We are aware that customers don't always have smartphones with high data storage. Thus we made our app very light. To make the process of onboarding easier, we are now providing the app in nine vernacular languages," said Agarwal. Meesho, which is backed by Facebook and SoftBank, currently has 360 million downloads – 175 million of these in the last year alone. How does Meesho churn out entrepreneurs from rural India? The social e-commerce team at Meesho conducts monthly travel sessions with the team to the hometowns of their businessmen and businesswomen. It also provides monetary initial boost to sellers who are coming onboard for the first time. “Additionally, we provide free ad credits worth ₹1,200 to all new suppliers who create 7 live catalogues milestones within the first two weeks of their journey,” said Meesho. To promote ease of doing business, the unicorn has created two activation teams dedicated to understanding how to make it easy for sellers who are uneducated. "To improve comprehension and reduce friction, we have created two activation teams from both the seller and user side. Over 20 plus videos exist to educate about sales online. Even the stories we pick to celebrate are meant to be encouraging for small business owners, making us friendly and approachable, " said Agarwal. Over 35% of the seller base from tier 4 regions The social e-commerce app is trying to reach the rural heartland of India. Over 35% of the Meesho seller base hailed from tier 4 regions. In June 2022 alone, there were 23,000 seller registrations – the highest ever from tier 4 cities. Mandi in Himachal Pradesh; Muzaffarnagar and Unnao in Uttar Pradesh; Buhana, Paota, and Kaman in Rajasthan are popular tier 4 business spots for Meesho. Nearly 41% of all Meesho sellers hail from tier 2+ regions such as Hisar, Panipat and Tiruppur, among others. According to a Bernstein report 2022, the sweet spot for e-commerce growth in India is from tier 2 and tier 3 cities. Meesho is outperforming Amazon and Flipkart when it comes to these cities, it reported. In spite of having 700,000 sellers on its platform, Amazon is yet to gain ground in a very important category in India — tier 2 and tier 3 markets. One of India's fastest e-commerce companies, Meesho is looking forward to expanding its portfolio to 100 million sellers with the upcoming festivities. The <keyword id="15066971" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="meesho-blockbuster-sale" source="Orion">Meesho blockbuster sale</keyword> beginning from 23rd September will offer products at prices that are 15% lower than that offered by the big e-commerce platforms, claims the company. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/doodlage-and-ecokaari-startups-are-converting-waste-into-bags-and-clothes/articleshow/94388327.cms">Fashion forward: These startups are converting waste into bags and clothes</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/most-indians-to-spend-more-than-10000-on-shopping-in-the-upcoming-festive-season-says-report/articleshow/94389278.cms">Most Indians to spend more than ₹10,000 on shopping in the upcoming festive season, says report</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/whatsapp-pay-india-head-mahatme-quits-likely-to-return-to-amazon-pay/articleshow/94378345.cms">WhatsApp Pay India head Mahatme quits, likely to return to Amazon Pay</a>

Online e-commerce player Meesho is the new crorepati factory

India’s indigenous messaging app <keyword id="44033" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="hike">Hike</keyword> recently raised $175 million from Tencent and Foxconn on Tuesday, thus becoming the fastest Indian tech start-up to enter the elite <keyword id="3009432" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="unicorn-club">Unicorn club</keyword> with a billion dollar valuation. 
 
It took the New Delhi-based start-up only 3 years and 8 months to achieve the feat, and in comparison to that, India's most valued tech company Flipkart took five years to enter the club, while Ola took its own sweet time of about four and half years. 
 
Talking of veterans, IT industry giant Infosys took about 18 years to cross the milestone, says its annual filings. 
 
One can argue that these private valuations are just vanity metrics, not indicating company’s actual values, unlike the oldies Infosys, MakeMyTrip and Info Edge, which have public market values. 
 
Have a look at the journey of famous Indian companies that are a part of the Billion Dollar club, made by <a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/security-tech/technology/infosys-took-18-years-to-become-what-hike-has-managed-to-do-in-just-3-years/articleshow/53766596.cms">ET</a>: 
 
 
 
<a href="http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/multimedia/dynamic/02974/BL17_01_KAVIN_2974677f.jpg">Image source</a>

It took Infosys 18 years to become a billion dollar company! Hike did that in just 3 years

A 'hidden asset' at Citigroup has given the bank a dominant position in the fastest-growing business on Wall Street - but challengers are knocking at the door

<ul><li>In our last feature from the series where we crystal-gazed into 2022 and brought to you some key trends that will impact the industry, we speak to experts from the Indian <keyword id="6357332" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="gaming" source="Orion">gaming</keyword> industry.</li><li>They share their thoughts of a few big trends that will dominate the industry in 2022.</li></ul>As we enter 2022, we can only look back and wonder at the meteoric rise online gaming has seen in India in the past two years. While gaming had been witnessing growth, albeit a relatively slow one, before the lockdown, it was during the locked-at-home phase that many across the country not only discovered the joys of gaming, but also realised they could make a healthy living out of it. If most reports coming out in the last one year are to be believed, India will see an even faster growth for the industry in the next few years, and now Bharat is joining in this growth. A recent report by <keyword id="7087972" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="mobile-premier-league" source="Orion">Mobile Premier League</keyword> (MPL), an <keyword id="2440542" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="esports" source="Orion">esports</keyword> and skill gaming platform revealed that India’s tier-III cities and towns have witnessed a significant rise in the number of online gamers in 2021. The top 30 of them reported up to 170% more gamers compared to 2020. Some of the small towns have more than 100% to up to 200% growth in online gamers. Another report by Sequoia India and BCG said that while the gaming industry in India is currently smaller than that of the US and China and is 1% of the global gaming market, it is generating $1.5B revenue and is expected to triple to over $5 billion by 2025 on the back of the ‘mobile first’ phenomenon. This massive growth has also led to a new breed of influencers who are being followed by hundreds of thousands of engaged audiences. YouTube’s recently released list of top Indian creators on its platform featured 5 gamers. And things are just about starting to get heated. To understand where this highly dynamic industry is headed in this next year, we reached out to a few prominent voices from the industry and this is what they had to say: Lokesh Suji, Director, Esports Federation of India &amp; Vice President of the Asian Esports Federation (AESF) India was a sleeping giant till Covid-19 happened, and now we have established ourselves as a market that cannot be ignored; Stakeholders like the brands, investors, authorities and so on, were just sitting on the fence and observing. But with a market of at least 450 million online gamers, the potential of video games and esports cannot be ignored. The year 2021, has been the inflection point for video games in India. While esports evolves itself into various business models, Non-fungible token (NFT) will be one big trend to watch out for in 2022. Video Games is the best use case for NFTs, customization of the skins, virtual avatars, in-game items/rewards etc. all this already exists in video games (so-called metaverse) and is now starting to be converted into NFTs. One of the key drivers for the meteoric growth of Video Games has been live streaming and esports, and such content creators and/IP holders will eventually look at converting the best of gameplays/streaks/moments into NFTs, which not only help increase monetization for content creators, video game developers etc. but also be a catalyst in terms of retention of fans and users respectively. Anirudh Pandita, Founder, <keyword id="820765" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Loco" source="Orion">Loco</keyword> Gaming has now arrived as a truly mainstream entertainment experience and has become the primary source of entertainment for India’s young generation. 2021 saw the rise of esports and game streaming, and 2022 will see this multiply. In 2021, we saw the arrival of BGMI which all Indian fans were waiting for and in 2022, we will see multiple big publishers release games for India. In 2021, we saw esports go to new heights and we will see continued growth in the sector in the next year as prize money as well as number of games will increase. Game streaming saw the entry of hundreds of thousands of new streamers and millions of viewers, and this trend should accelerate in 2022, with individual streams rivaling those of major traditional sports. Lastly, with blockchain providing interesting use cases, we expect to see interesting new use cases come out to help creators and consumers. We, at Loco, have always aimed at paving the way for gaming to go from a niche hobby to a mainstream national interest- which the year 2021 has helped realize. We are confident that with this, India will cement its place on the global gaming map in 2022. Abhishek Aggarwal, Co-Founder &amp; CEO, <keyword id="12415204" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="trinity-gaming" source="Orion">Trinity Gaming</keyword> The gaming industry is progressing, taking complete advantage of the latest developments in technology, software, better internet services, gadgets, cloud technology and more. In the Indian scenario, there is an explosive growth of gamers in this booming industry with creative and engaging content being an important aspect of the system. With more games introduced and with more people joining the pool, more brands are shifting their focus on marketing their brands through these young creators who have an enormous fan following across the age group of 15-30 which is the most targeted audience in advertising terms for both endemic and non-endemic brands. Gaming content has begun to penetrate the Tier II, Tier III locations, and beyond, giving vernacular content creators a chance to grow. With Hindi &amp; Tamil being the two most popular languages in streaming in India, it will surely gain more prominence in the coming time. More people will watch game streaming. Audiences tend to admire their creators and feel more connected to them due to their high level of engagement. The future of gaming beholds a lot and a stronger and classified gaming ecosystem is on the rise. Tarun Gupta, Founder, <keyword id="10820861" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ultimate-battle" source="Orion">Ultimate Battle</keyword> Games and gaming content are highly engaging and we're seeing a huge spike in average and concurrent viewership for gaming content. The consumers are very dynamic and their attention span size has decreased noticeably in GenZ. We see short gaming video content to witness a never seen before hype in the gaming community. The mobile gaming market is expanding in tier 2 and tier 3 cities and we'll witness a rise in engagement in games, viewership, and content creation. Young gamers will play engaging games, consume fast-paced engaging content, and want to socialize with gamers often simultaneously. This will lead to more virtual world socialization among the young generation and higher consumption of gaming content. As such, 2022 will usher higher inclination by brands into the gaming industry to target the young age group of 18 to 25. With many startups and organizations focusing on gaming and esports, we'll see a spike in Esports events and team IPs being created. This will boost the gaming ecosystem in India and open multiple opportunities in careers for gamers and IT professionals. Roland Landers, CEO, <keyword id="3634002" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="All-India-Gaming-Federation" source="Orion">All India Gaming Federation</keyword> The Indian gaming industry along with the M&amp;E segment has now become one of the fastest growing sectors in India with around 7.3 Bn downloads in recent years. It has emerged as an important avenue due to a multitude of favorable factors such as young and tech-savvy population, affordable availability of feature-packed smartphones, better internet connectivity, and an overall technological development. The move has also accelerated the growth of multi gaming format in the online gaming space. The Indian gaming industry is expected to reach 3 billion by 2025 and is now projected to grow faster than the global online gaming segment. The industry currently employs 40,000 people in direct jobs and by 2024 the online skill gaming industry is expected to employ around 2 lakh people. This growth will further lead to revenue generation for the country, driven by ease of payment, better security and instant withdrawal of winnings etc. As the regulatory landscape is also evolving and positive judgments are expected from many states, we as an industry leader look forward to an exciting year for this sunrise sector. With its exponential growth, the gaming industry will also attract international investors to invest in the Indian market. Sameer Barde, CEO - E Gaming Federation <div type="image" title="IMG-20220110-WA0005" msid="88826278" hostid="261"></div> Online gaming will become increasingly mainstream and find acceptance as a source of entertainment in 2022. This year, we anticipate a growth rate of over 35 % for the sector as a whole. However, for this to happen, we hope to see government stakeholders accepting the need for regulation to protect the player and industry interests. Increasing monetization and adoption of new-age technology including blockchain and NFTs in the gaming ecosystem will be seen. We expect a larger number of players moving from free-to-play to paying-to-play, in-game purchases, and skill gaming. Industry players will develop new and exciting games for users based on traditional games and Indian themes, keeping the PM’s vision in mind. Additionally, e-Sports being a medal sport in the forthcoming Asian Games in September will result in a significant increase both in terms of acceptance and interest. All in all, we at EGF are excited and believe that this will be a bellwether year for the entire industry. Bhavin Pandya, CEO and Co-Founder, <keyword id="8913431" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Games24x7" source="Orion">Games24x7</keyword> The Indian online skill gaming industry is poised for tremendous growth. With the right support particularly in the form of progressive policy structures, gaming can spur a second software revolution in India. As of today, this industry offers direct employment to almost 50,000 people. It is also a major source of taxation for the exchequer. In addition, the sector has multiplier benefits for several other domains including fintech, banking, semiconductors, animation, and other aspects of Information Technology. The sector has witnessed significant investments from marquee international investors and accounts of several Unicorns. With the right encouragement and support, India can emerge as a global pioneer in gaming technology. Ankur Singh, CEO and Founder, Witzeal We believe that the gaming sector will continue to expand with the high end adoption of AI and data science to understand and provide users experiences they wish for. Future of gaming will likely be based upon newer technologies like Blockchain and its active usage would prove fruitful in the years to come. Another key trend to look forward to is the penetration of gaming in rural areas because the penetration of internet and smartphones is on a gradual rise. Yashash Agarwal, Co-Founder and CEO, <keyword id="3212361" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Gamezop" source="Orion">Gamezop</keyword> <div type="image" title="RIC_8498" msid="88758667" hostid="261"></div> Blockchain gaming is shaping up to be a very interesting space. We are already seeing very interesting games emerge with blockchain and NFTs at the heart of all the action. Games like Axie Infinity have popularized the Play to Earn mechanic and they have been able to scale engagement as well as monetization to huge numbers. Take it one step further and we see that decentralization is fundamentally changing how companies operate: all the way from raising money, to day-to-day governance. This is most notable in DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organisations), which follow a bottom-up, community-driven management style. We are excited to see the blockchain gaming projects that emerge from India! Vaibhav Odhekar, COO &amp; Co-Founder, <keyword id="2734866" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="POKKT" source="Orion">POKKT</keyword> The gaming industry is constantly evolving, and its popularity will continue to rise. In the last three years, the sector has welcomed 500 million new gamers globally. New technological breakthroughs such as virtual reality have provided another dimension towards entertainment in this domain. For many young folks, the industry has also become a viable career option. Talking about the trends- The audience will continue to diversify in the coming years. So, instead of a male/female audience bias, we'll have a nearly 50-50 gender split, with a lot more older people joining the online gaming space. India is expected to create more global content. Although the percentage is extremely low right now, as more high-quality content is created in India, the trend will improve. Also, e-Sports as a category will grow in popularity. In 2022, there will be a significant increase in the number of movies released worldwide. So, the biggest trend we anticipate to see is a lot more games based on movie franchises. Gaming has its own history of adapting films and gamers are enthralled by such games. Video games are a vast medium that covers a wide variety of genres and experiences that can only be experienced in games, along with contributions from a population from all over the world. Even while many modern games are inspired by movies, they are nevertheless unique in their own way and we expect them to expand in the coming years.

Gaming: What to expect from the Indian gaming and e-sports industry in 2022

Logistics technology platform <keyword id="4178573" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="shiprocket" source="Orion">Shiprocket</keyword> on Friday said it has signed a definitive agreement for a $185 million (₹1,380 crore) Series E funding round, co-led by <keyword id="830092" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="zomato" source="Orion">Zomato</keyword>, <keyword id="12707014" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Temasek-and-Lightrock-India" source="Orion">Temasek and Lightrock India</keyword>. This marks Shiprocket's third round of funding in 2021, bringing the total funds raised to $280 million. Shiprocket focuses on providing Amazon Prime-like shipping experiences for sellers and consumers across India in direct-to-consumer e-commerce. "We are excited about the vast, untapped opportunity that lies in post-purchase technology enablement in the D2C e-commerce space. This fundraise is a validation of the hard work put in by the entire Shiprocket team over the last 4 years," said Saahil Goel, CEO and Co-founder, Shiprocket. New investors, Moore Strategic Ventures and 9unicorns, are also participating in this round, along with existing investors, InfoEdge Ventures and March Capital. Launched in 2017, Shiprocket is the fastest company to become profitable in 24 months while also doubling its ARR (annual run rate) over the last 6 months. Shiprocket said it will deploy fresh funds towards aggressive core product expansion, research and development, talent acquisition, and development of a comprehensive suite of products for retailers. "With the launch of our services in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in November 2021, we have also taken the first step towards expanding our footprint in new geographies," said Goel. Shiprocket also provides a technology stack to help retailers integrate their shopping websites on Shopify, Magento, WooCommerce, Zoho and others for workflow, inventory and order management. "Shiprocket plugs a big hole in the e-commerce space by offering customers of direct-to-consumer brands a seamless post checkout experience, including delivery," said <keyword id="476451" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="deepinder-goyal" source="Orion">Deepinder Goyal</keyword>, CEO and Co-founder, Zomato. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/mapmyindias-grey-market-premium-is-at-900-heres-all-you-need-to-know/slidelist/88200647.cms">MapmyIndia’s grey market premium is at ₹900 — here’s all you need to know about the business</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/banks/news/ratings-agency-fitch-says-it-considers-chinas-evergrande-to-be-in-default-and-cuts-its-creditworthiness-even-further-into-junk-territory/articleshow/88197893.cms">Ratings agency Fitch says it considers China's Evergrande to be in default, and cuts its creditworthiness even further into 'junk' territory</a>

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