Occasions
Divisions
Performances
Occasions
Divisions
Performances
Ascendant India Summit 2024: Indian financial technology's technology platform to cater not just India, but the entire world
Indian entrepreneurs have enjoyed remarkable success in the past half-decade. However, with a rejuvenated emphasis on India's startup environment, figures like Ritesh Agarwal from Oyo Rooms, Harsh Jain from Dream 11, Virendra Gupta from Daily Hunt, and Upasana Taku from Mobikwik are confident that we are primed to make a worldwide impact.
Entrepreneurs from several significant Indian startups contributed to the discussions at News18's 'Rising Bharat Summit' 2024. They focused on the substantial influence of innovation and entrepreneurship on India's economy. They also highlighted that Indian startups, nurtured within the country, are prepared to face global competition and extend their services worldwide.
The presenters featured Ritesh Agarwal, who started Oyo Rooms, Harsh Jain, who co-started Dream 11, Virendra Gupta, who established Daily Hunt, and Upasana Taku, the chief executive officer of Mobikwik.
Harsh Jain discussed the current state of the startup environment and its evolution over the past ten years. He recalled a time, about a decade or so ago, when he had to reassure potential employees and their parents that leaving a multinational corporation to join a startup was a sound decision. Nowadays, parents are more accepting of their children launching their own startups.
A decade or so ago, investors were apprehensive about putting their money into an Indian firm. However, nowadays, both investors and business founders are expressing a preference for India. This significant shift in attitude can be attributed to initiatives such as Digital India and Startup India launched by the Indian government, according to Jain. He was discussing the increased trust and confidence in India's startup environment among investors and entrepreneurs.
Ritesh Agarwal from Oyo Rooms regards India as a shining beacon in the world economy, not just on a global scale but particularly in the startup economic sector. According to him, India not only ranks third in the world's startup ecosystem but is also its quickest expanding one.
"This indicates that we are close to securing the sought-after second rank, and then swiftly aim for the top spot. Before India ranks amongst the world's top three economies, it will emerge as one of the two leading startup hubs globally," he further stated.
India is frequently viewed as a promising market due to its massive user base. Yet, several enterprises that couldn't succeed in India argue that it's incredibly challenging to generate revenue and essentially tough to turn a profit there.
"Startups aren't about generating profits in a single year. It's a journey that Harsh and Ritesh have been on for many years while developing their businesses. There's a common misunderstanding that launching a startup will instantly lead to a billion-dollar enterprise," Virendra Gupta, the creator of Daily Hunt, explained.
Those businesses you often hear about in the media, the ones that have amassed billions of dollars, are typically those that have persisted for about a decade. When I first launched DailyHunt, I was frequently questioned, "Is there a need for the internet in Bharat? Is it necessary for those who speak Hindi or Kannada to use the internet?" Venture capitalists were highly skeptical about investing in any business that catered to Bharat. There was a significant amount of skepticism at the time, and ironically, those same skeptics now argue that despite the large user base in India, these users are not profitable.
Discussing India's financial growth potential, Gupta proceeded to explain, "Take a broad view of India's economic landscape. Our per capita GDP is expanding rapidly. We're on track to becoming a $5-7 trillion economy in the near future. Companies that seize the opportunity now will reap significant benefits as the economy improves."
Gupta asserted that India could be considered the global hub for new businesses. The level of excitement observed in India is unmatched by that in San Francisco or any European location. Conversations about budding businesses are common in second and third tier cities in India. Entrepreneurship departments are now a part of every engineering and MBA school curriculum. With 60 to 70 startup incubators spread throughout the nation, the desire to excel globally is rampant in India, he stated.
Mobikwik's CEO, Upasana Taku, expressed her appreciation for the Indian government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for their strong support of fintech advancements in India. She noted that they have established a solid groundwork for a budding industry through various elements of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI). She highlighted the significance of both UPI and Aadhar in revolutionizing India. She pointed out that Aadhar is being used for various digital transactions such as buying property, obtaining loans, and making investments. She also emphasized the speed of these transactions, noting that large sums of money are transferred digitally within milliseconds, a feat not even achieved in the most advanced markets.
"Before the term 'fintech' even existed, we began our journey approximately 14 years ago. Despite India having around 800 million users, only about 400 million of them use it for transactions. Hence, there's still a significant potential for expansion," Taku stated.
Taku predicts that the number of transacting users will soar to approximately 800 million in the forthcoming 5-6 years. Given the trajectory of India's economy, this suggests that India's fintech industry will remain robust and continually growing.
The advancements have been facilitated by the government's funding in DPI, which has contributed to the creation of a supportive environment. "India has seen significant fintech innovation in the past half-decade or so. Our technology infrastructure is robust enough to not only cater to the local business sector, but also expand globally and supersede the prevailing technology in foreign markets," Taku explained.
Search for us on YouTube
Best Programs
Locate us on YouTube
Premier Programs
are available on YouTube
Firstpost holds all rights, protected by copyright, as of 2024
+ There are no comments
Add yours