BREAKING THROUGH

THERE HAS BEEN, ever since India’s economic reforms began, a ‘before and after 1991’. Likewise, there will be a ‘before and after 2021’ for the start-up story. It’s the year when the country’s venture capital and start-up worlds found themselves lifted centre stage into the country’s business and economy, not by design, but by the unintended devices of a pandemic and the government’s policies.

The Covid-19-induced digital shift placed many consumer tech categories, which includes edtech, payments and e-commerce, at the top end of a tailwind. The wind travelled quite well, blasting throughout the past year to bring a lot more people online while the existing ones became increasingly well-versed with digital transactions. Consequently, start-ups in these segments bypassed usual growth cycles to achieve economies of scale and the momentum spilled over to other sectors as well. Simultaneously, the results of the US Federal Reserve slashing rates began to reflect as investors, flush with excess liquidity, flocked to Indian markets to take advantage of this unprecedented new opportunity. The Chinese government’s crackdown on internet companies also helped push significant global money into the neighbouring Indian market.

This confluence of domestic and external factors shaped up a landmark year for venture capital and startups in India.

“In the 2012-13 time period, we clearly saw that the elements to scale companies were present. In 2017-18, we saw companies