Celebrating Unparalleled Excellence & Innovation
The Economic Survey 2021-22, showed that India had become the world's third- largest startup ecosystem after the US and China. It notes that the government in that past year recognised over 14,000 new startups compared to 733 in 2016-17. Moreover, India saw a record 44 startups turning unicorns in 2021 and just two months into the New Year, India has already registered 10 new unicorns.
In the opening fireside chat, Dinesh Agarwal, Founder and CEO, IndiaMART said that digitisation and significant capital investments in the last two decades have resulted in this dramatic growth of the Indian startup ecosystem.
During an initial virtual session, Annurag Batra, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, BW Businessworld and Founder, exchange4media stated, “The appetite in Indian startups seems to be only multiplying.” Adding to it, Vikram Gupta, Founder and MD, IvyCap Ventures said, “The nation’s innovators are making the country proud globally, it is a great time to be an investor and an entrepreneur in India.” IvyCap Ventures has recently announced the first close of its third fund at ₹1,608 crore ($214 million).
Founders Finding Future-Fit Solutions
Pondering as to what can be the master plan to address the dynamic change in consumers’ behavior, an international money transfer company regulated by RBI, Moneyhop’s Founder and CEO, Mayank Goyal, shared his viewpoint, “Currently, we are witnessing cross border payments and remittances companies holding consumer from end-to-end.”
The panel discussions during the day dealt on timely topics of digital inclusion amongst new-age startups, penetrating newer solutions to remote areas, future of workplaces, fostering resilience, strategies to reach to launch IPOs and addressing new concepts of investment deals.
Industry Captains’ Viewpoint
Being a part of the incubator, Sethuratnam Ravi, Managing Partner at Ravi Rajan & Co., Chairman TFCI, and former Chairman, Bombay Stock Exchange shared his first-hand experience saying, “Passion, ideas, vision coupled with hard work are needed to achieve success. There is no easy path for entrepreneurs.”
Deep Kalra, Founder and Group Executive Chairman, MakeMyTrip put forth his take and inspired all the present founders not to forget their integral supporters, co-workers and intrapreneurs and keep them first as they go ahead.
Sharing his insights, J. C. Chaudhry, Chairman, Aakash Educational Services enlightened the listeners and said, “The intensity of hunger in your belly will eventually decide how far will you go.”
Agreeing with the other speakers on one of the panels, Capita-A’s Ankit Kedia, asserted that establishing a rapport with the person is extremely important before one takes the leap of faith and makes an investment.
The Differentiators Brewing Success
“Unacademy is a completely online platform, if we depend on online infrastructure to get an education, it will take another 50-60 years before last-mile delivery happens,” said Roman Saini, Co-founder, Unacademy while shedding light upon the importance of online education.
In such a time, Srinath Ramakkrushnan’s team at Zetwerk invested in on-demand mental counsellors. He also added that, due to the lack of time constraints created by virtual workspaces, people find it difficult to manage time.
Rahul Sharma, Country Head of Slack added that the benefit of virtual workspaces was employees could be learning how to spend time with family while they continue to work. He strongly held the opinion that the physical idea of headquarters is fast evolving into a digital space.
Set To Emerge Stronger in 2022
Which idea can become a unicorn quickly? No one has one fixed playbook but founders shall hold their convictions stronger and never forget to follow their dreams.
Going beyond a traditional summit, the event acknowledges the dynamism of the entrepreneurs, all of which ride alongside the want to make an impact and add value to the existing startup sector of India.
BW Disrupt 40 Under 40 is in its fifth year of recognising and acknowledging the very best of the founders’ sector. BW Disrupt was celebrating the most definitive gathering of innovators and distinguished change makers.
The eventful and impactful day drew to a close with a major attraction -- the award ceremony of BW Disrupt 40 under 40, 2021.
