“Incredible India” is actually the country with the 3rd largest number of startups in the world after the US and the UK, with some 3,100 ventures as of late 2014.
Bangalore, often dubbed the Silicon Valley of India, is the technology heart of this gigantic, 1.2bn population and amazingly diverse country. The city accounts for 28% of existing startups, followed by New Delhi (24%).
While attending the Nasscom Product Conclave, the largest tech event of Bangalore, we had the opportunity to see why Indian startups were so strong.
There’s first an incredible growth of the middle-class. Back in 2007, some 50m Indians were considered middle-class, this figure is poised to reach almost 600m by 2025.
Then, there’s the education excellence in IT, with the famous Indian Institute of Technology scattered across the country. Many of their alumni have helped American startups in the Silicon Valley to be successful, from Sun Microsystems (Vinod Khosla) yesterday, to Google (Sundar Pichai, SVP, overviews most of the company’s top products) or Microsoft (with Satya Nadella as new CEO) today.
Beyond the traditional marketplaces and e-commerce boom we can see in so many other countries, India is extremely strong in the core of today’s IT, especially in Big Data.
A recent report on the startup scene envisioned the creation of some 2000 new startups every year, with job creation in the industry reaching 250-300k by 2020.
If all figures need to be taken with some distance, a visit in Bangalore will make you understand why you find Indians at key IT positions in tech giants, top startups and corporates today.
PROS
- India has 3,100 startups, which makes it the 3rd largest country for technological ventures in the world, after the US and the UK
- Bangalore is the Silicon Valley of India, great concentration of tech companies and talent, and 28% of startups are based there, more than anywhere else
- Mobile-first culture which leapfrogs the PC era and creates low-tech, efficient services through voice & SMS
- Strong ties with the Silicon Valley through successful entrepreneurs for decades (Sun Microsystems & Khosla, Microsoft & Nadella, and more)
- Strong technical background and very strong presence in marketing, analytics, big data & sciences, and core technologies for the decade to come
CONS
- Heavy bureaucracy combined with some corruption, ranked 140th out of 189 for ease of doing business
- Limited openness to foreign investors & business people, although the new PM Modi opens gradually key sectors, like retail
- Culturally risk adverse with low recognition of entrepreneurs in the tech sphere
- Decision by consensus & committee slows processes
- Infrastructure is a challenge, from water to power to roads
TOP STARTUPS IN BANGALORE (INDIA)
Flipkart.com is India’s leading e-commerce marketplace with over 20 million products across more than 70 categories
InMobi provides an extensive range of ad formats, analytic and monetization tools for user’s app business
Snapdeal is India’s leading online marketplace featuring best offers on products & services offered by vendors across India
ZipDial offers a marketing and analytics platform, driving customer engagement by capitalizing on missed calls
redBus is India’s number 1 bus ticketing platform, providing bus ticket fare with zero booking charges
TOP PEOPLE TO KNOW IN BANGALORE (INDIA)
Vikram Ahuja
Partner
Kyron Global Accelerator
Partner at Kyron Global Accelerator and Founder at Kyron Innovation Labs, investing in and mentoring startups in India and the Middle-East
Rajat Tandon
Director
NASSCOM
Director at NASSCOM, which highlights startups that are noteworthy and helping startups get invested
Srikanth Nadhamuni
CEO and Co-Founder
Khosla Labs
CEO of Khosla Labs, a startup incubator that creates and nurtures startups using technology and entrepreneurial zeal to address challenges
Varsha Adusumili
VP, Business Development & Campaigns
YourStory Media
Go-to hustler at YourStory, India’s largest tech blog in English. Previously the AVP at YourStory.in
Vijay Raghavendra
Vice President, Engineering
WalmartLabs
VP Engineering at WalmartLabs. Previously Co-Founder of Palo Alto-based start-up Inkiru which was acquired by Walmart eCommerce
Arihant patni
Managing Director
Hive Technologies
Managing Director of Hive Technologies, a platform that invests in data analytics and data science (‘Big Data’) companies
BANGALORE (INDIA)
| GDP (in billions USD): | 2,048 |
| GDP per capita (in USD): | 1,626 |
| Population: | 1,236,344,631 |
| Population in 2050 (est.): | 1,656,553,600 |
| Internet Penetration: | 19.7 % |
| Mobile Penetration: | 10 % |
| Banking Penetration: | <1 % |
| Credit Card Penetration: | 20 % |
LINKS & RESOURCES
- Target Accelerator Program: re-inventing retail in the digital age
- Make in India: meet 5 promising Internet of things startups from Bangalore
- BRICS series #3: Book My Show leads India’s ticketing frenzy
- Mobile technology and politics in developing countries: case studies from Nigeria, India and South Africa