“You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that, it’s an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before,” Rahm Emanuel, American politician
The once-in-a-lifetime pandemic, COVID19, seems to be a bigger growth opportunity than a threat for up-and-coming entrepreneurs. As shivers travel down the global economy, new startups are thriving during the darkest days of retail.
Wave of innovation
Great business ideas are finding fertile grounds and taking the primary steps toward success. Entrepreneurs are discovering new fields including drone distributed testing kits for inaccessible villages, antiviral surface coating patient monitoring systems, and producers are spinning production to products needed currently. The near and long-term pattern shifts brought on by the pandemic are showing the way forward for even bigger ideas. Entrepreneurs and innovators across India have answered quickly to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. In India, a host of new entrepreneurial ventures, some emerging from start-ups that have been incubated by universities, have appeared in recent weeks. Some of the fields being explored are:
Robots– A problem as lockdowns begin to ease will be stopping the virus from spreading in public spaces such as airports or bus stations. A Kerela based start-up, Asimov Robotics, has deployed robots at entrances to office buildings and other public places to dispense hand sanitiser and deliver public health messages about the virus. Robots developed by Asimov Robotics are also being positioned in hospital isolation wards to transport food and medicines, in turn easing the pressure on medical staff.
Tracing Apps– GPS and Bluetooth are being put to use to inform people when they are at risk of exposure to COVID-19. Such initiatives were initially started by tech giants Google and Apple. Start-ups including KlinicApp and Practo, are facilitating citizens to take COVID-19 tests at home and providing online consultation with doctors via their platform.
Masks– A snood mask is one of the recent patents that have been developed and has the potential to save lives with an antiviral coating. The startup behind the patent is Virustatic Shield, which plans to expand production to a million a week and reserve part of their stock for the UK’s National Health Service.
Ventilators- As a solution to the scarcity of ventilators for critical care, start-ups such as Aerobiosys Innovations (incubated at IIT Hyderabad) and AgVa Healthcare and Nocca Robotics (incubated at Indian Institute of Technology(IIT)-Kanpur), are developing inexpensive, easy-to-use, and portable ventilators that can be installed even in rural areas of India. These ventilators would require medical regulatory approval before they could be deployed.
Shifting investment pattern
The COVID-19 crisis has brought a change in startup investment patterns. Startup funding for March 2020 dropped by over 50% as compared to the previous month, reveals data from Venture Intelligence. The startup data tracker reported that Indian startups managed to raise only $354 million across 34 deals, down from $714 million secured in February across 46 deals.
Venture capital firms are shifting their attention from tech-centric startups to the ones functioning in sectors such as the FMCG sector, online grocery delivery, home entertainment etc. Besides that, startups in EdTech, FinTech and cyber security are observing a growing user demand, which in turn is attracting investors. Additionally, the government itself is offering Indian startups $130K to develop an encrypted video conferencing solution that has the ability to work on multiple platforms. Global early-stage venture capitalist, Antler, has received more than 1500 proposals from 100 countries within just two weeks of the launch of its COVID-19 call to startups. The response has been overwhelmingly positive from both new startups and existing businesses who are adapting their existing products and operations.
Tiding over tough times
These times could be concerning for startup founders, predominantly for those still in the early stages. From once worrying about seeking investments and scaling up, they now stare at an existential crisis about continuing business while counting their remaining pennies. It will be very hard to raise funds in the upcoming months and possibly longer. Even positive fundraising results will take longer than usual. The goal for a startup right now should be to have 12-18 months before they drain themselves of cash. Besides, valuations will keep fluctuating due to the enlarged macroeconomic risk. A “flat round” of funding that has the potential to extend a startup’s operations for another 12 months should be considered a good option. Some of the general risks that the VCs want startups to lookout for include:
- Exchange rates
- Risk from public markets
- Supply chain disruptions
- Over-dependence on capital sources
- Cybersecurity
Summary
The pandemic has undeniably affected the startup funding scenario. But it has also given birth to new opportunities for startups that can adapt to the current environment and readily improvise. Some companies are already showing trend-defying growth, which serves as an inspiration to budding entrepreneurs. With ventures ranging from hands-free door openers that can be 3D-printed, to basic ventilators, the COVID-19 pandemic has piloted a new era of imperative innovation. It’s reminiscent of the inventions of the Second World War, when the first digital computer and rocket technology came into being.
While it is too early to measure the long-term impact of coronavirus on entrepreneurship, we can expect a positive turn. A concerted effort is required from the government along with VCs and corporates. From an app to measure social distancing, to a contactless hand sanitiser, to using data science to restrain the spread of the virus, and even a device to monitor multiple COVID-19 patients simultaneously—budding Indian entrepreneurs are doing it all.
References
COVID-19 challenges for budding entrepreneurs
https://scroll.in/article/960783/indian-startups-are-fighting-covid-19-with-innovation
“You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that, it’s an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before,” Rahm Emanuel, American politician
The once-in-a-lifetime pandemic, COVID19, seems to be a bigger growth opportunity than a threat for up-and-coming entrepreneurs. As shivers travel down the global economy, new startups are thriving during the darkest days of retail.
Wave of innovation
Great business ideas are finding fertile grounds and taking the primary steps toward success. Entrepreneurs are discovering new fields including drone distributed testing kits for inaccessible villages, antiviral surface coating patient monitoring systems, and producers are spinning production to products needed currently. The near and long-term pattern shifts brought on by the pandemic are showing the way forward for even bigger ideas. Entrepreneurs and innovators across India have answered quickly to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. In India, a host of new entrepreneurial ventures, some emerging from start-ups that have been incubated by universities, have appeared in recent weeks. Some of the fields being explored are:
Robots– A problem as lockdowns begin to ease will be stopping the virus from spreading in public spaces such as airports or bus stations. A Kerela based start-up, Asimov Robotics, has deployed robots at entrances to office buildings and other public places to dispense hand sanitiser and deliver public health messages about the virus. Robots developed by Asimov Robotics are also being positioned in hospital isolation wards to transport food and medicines, in turn easing the pressure on medical staff.
Tracing Apps– GPS and Bluetooth are being put to use to inform people when they are at risk of exposure to COVID-19. Such initiatives were initially started by tech giants Google and Apple. Start-ups including KlinicApp and Practo, are facilitating citizens to take COVID-19 tests at home and providing online consultation with doctors via their platform.
Masks– A snood mask is one of the recent patents that have been developed and has the potential to save lives with an antiviral coating. The startup behind the patent is Virustatic Shield, which plans to expand production to a million a week and reserve part of their stock for the UK’s National Health Service.
Ventilators- As a solution to the scarcity of ventilators for critical care, start-ups such as Aerobiosys Innovations (incubated at IIT Hyderabad) and AgVa Healthcare and Nocca Robotics (incubated at Indian Institute of Technology(IIT)-Kanpur), are developing inexpensive, easy-to-use, and portable ventilators that can be installed even in rural areas of India. These ventilators would require medical regulatory approval before they could be deployed.
Shifting investment pattern
The COVID-19 crisis has brought a change in startup investment patterns. Startup funding for March 2020 dropped by over 50% as compared to the previous month, reveals data from Venture Intelligence. The startup data tracker reported that Indian startups managed to raise only $354 million across 34 deals, down from $714 million secured in February across 46 deals.
Venture capital firms are shifting their attention from tech-centric startups to the ones functioning in sectors such as the FMCG sector, online grocery delivery, home entertainment etc. Besides that, startups in EdTech, FinTech and cyber security are observing a growing user demand, which in turn is attracting investors. Additionally, the government itself is offering Indian startups $130K to develop an encrypted video conferencing solution that has the ability to work on multiple platforms. Global early-stage venture capitalist, Antler, has received more than 1500 proposals from 100 countries within just two weeks of the launch of its COVID-19 call to startups. The response has been overwhelmingly positive from both new startups and existing businesses who are adapting their existing products and operations.
Tiding over tough times
These times could be concerning for startup founders, predominantly for those still in the early stages. From once worrying about seeking investments and scaling up, they now stare at an existential crisis about continuing business while counting their remaining pennies. It will be very hard to raise funds in the upcoming months and possibly longer. Even positive fundraising results will take longer than usual. The goal for a startup right now should be to have 12-18 months before they drain themselves of cash. Besides, valuations will keep fluctuating due to the enlarged macroeconomic risk. A “flat round” of funding that has the potential to extend a startup’s operations for another 12 months should be considered a good option. Some of the general risks that the VCs want startups to lookout for include:
- Exchange rates
- Risk from public markets
- Supply chain disruptions
- Over-dependence on capital sources
- Cybersecurity
Summary
The pandemic has undeniably affected the startup funding scenario. But it has also given birth to new opportunities for startups that can adapt to the current environment and readily improvise. Some companies are already showing trend-defying growth, which serves as an inspiration to budding entrepreneurs. With ventures ranging from hands-free door openers that can be 3D-printed, to basic ventilators, the COVID-19 pandemic has piloted a new era of imperative innovation. It’s reminiscent of the inventions of the Second World War, when the first digital computer and rocket technology came into being.
While it is too early to measure the long-term impact of coronavirus on entrepreneurship, we can expect a positive turn. A concerted effort is required from the government along with VCs and corporates. From an app to measure social distancing, to a contactless hand sanitiser, to using data science to restrain the spread of the virus, and even a device to monitor multiple COVID-19 patients simultaneously—budding Indian entrepreneurs are doing it all.
References
COVID-19 challenges for budding entrepreneurs
https://scroll.in/article/960783/indian-startups-are-fighting-covid-19-with-innovation
Author – Vipasha
Entrepreneurship Development Cell 
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