How Start-ups Are Innovating With Ideas And Tech Amid COVID-19
Every major industry player has been affected due to the pandemic, from travel to e-commerce, forcing the entire ecosystem to come to a screeching halt. With the nationwide lockdown, India fights back valiantly trying to contain the spread while the startup sector has responded swiftly adopting the pandemic situation. Few emerging start-ups are implementing tech solutions with a host of new innovations to your business model. India as a developing country has enormous talent and trained professionals who are experts to find hacks to problems with limited resources commonly known as ‘Jugaad’.
In this pessimistic scenario, Indian startups are pivoting to transform their business models to navigate the current crisis through their economical yet creative ideas. Startup in sectors like edtech and healthcare are taking hold of new opportunities with their digital outreach. In the meanwhile, other sectors are modifying their offerings or reinventing themselves to communicate and stay connected with their target audience in the new normal where digital transformation and adoption has accelerated. A recent survey on the Indian startups indicate that many startups had prioritized growth over profitability. The number of startups has grown from 7,000 in 2008 to 50,000 in 2020, as per the KPMG report on the startup ecosystem in India.
Many startups in India are closely working with district, central and state government authorities to support the people of the country and reinforce the monitoring system with tech-enabled innovations. Every state has been severely impacted due to the pandemic and facing various issues, to bridge the gap, startups are stepping forward with tech solutions.
The education system has suffered the worst hit since the first phase of lockdown. With Edutech and e-learning startups the segment has had a positive impact lately. Students are exploring digital or virtual education in various spaces like robotics, coding, artificial intelligence, gaming approach, etc. Indian startups are helping with education beyond traditional textbooks and taking education to the next level across India. According to an analyst report, in the 28 days of lockdown period of April, eLearning has recorded around 128.8 million visits which was earlier about 102.2 million monthly visits.
E-pharmacy or health startups are offering Covid-19 tests at home and online consultation for various health problems with doctors through their platform. Even during the shortage of ventilators in India, the students of IIT universities along with few tech startups developed low-cost and affordable portable machines to help people. In the light of spreading awareness amongst the general public, few startups developed tech platforms to circulate the social-distancing guidelines, safety measure and government notifications. Healthcare is an essential service and along with the frontline staff, be it mental wellness or pharmaceutical healthcare startups have implemented technology to fight the battle and survive.
At such health crisis to stay sane and calm, people need entertainment for which event startups have started with virtual events, weddings, etc as India is known to celebrate the little joy of life even during the worst times. Startups are offering the look and feel of a conventional wedding by organising customised virtual wedding photography, the sangeet complete with DJ, and even the mehndi ceremony.
As India is moving on with the situation adopting the new normal, the spending preference has moved from discretionary to essential. Indian startup sectors like agritech fast-moving consumer goods, including lean manufacturing health tech, essential services, edtech, mental health and fitness has huge potential for growth opportunities in the coming months.
Even the Government of India has joined hands with various stakeholders to offer support to startups. Action COVID-19 team (ACT) has set-up a Rs 100 crore, created by India’s start-up community to give wings to ideas that could combat COVID-19 with immediate impact. This entrepreneurial mindset needs to be further encouraged and sustain to boost the next wave of innovation. This will also help Indian startups to continue fighting against the pandemic.
