Today, when we look around, the technological advances in recent years have been immense. We can see driverless cars, hands-free devices that can turn on the lights, and robots working in factories, which prove that intelligent machines are possible. In the last four years in the Indian startup ecosystem, the terms that were used (overused rather) more than funding, valuation, and exit were artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). We also saw investors readily putting in their money in startups that remotely used or claimed to use these emerging technologies.

Publication: Yourstory

Date: January 28, 2020

Uncertainties surrounding a comprehensive tax and regulatory framework, introduction of the Personal Data Protection Bill, new FDI norms, and GST compliance might have ruled the better half of 2019, but this year, the emerging players of the Indian ecommerce industry are hopeful for an impetus in the form of tax exemption and online-offline parity ahead of the Union Budget 2020. On February 1, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present Union Budget 2020 in the Parliament.

Publication: Yourstory

Date: January 28, 2020

70 years ago, the Constitution of India segregated the powers of the central government and the states, providing a list of subjects on which the centre, the states, and both the centre and states could make laws. Matters of state importance, such as public health, tourism, trade, entertainment, amongst others, were kept within state government’s jurisdiction. Thus, local businesses in the state followed the state laws to carry on their operations. This segregation worked perfectly till the digital medium disrupted the brick and mortar world. In pre-ecommerce times, businesses complied with the laws of the State in which they were physically present, either directly or through their agents or distributors.

Publication: The Economic Times

Date: January 28, 2020

Feb 1, 2020, is an important date for the startup industry in India. The last quarter has been really bad for startups because of the slump in the economy. The setback to the consumption pattern of Indians coupled with a sentiment wave of the slowdown is the biggest challenge for the startups. We expect our Finance minister Mrs. Sitharaman to bring some schemes to boost up the spending capacity of Indian consumers. Also, as the govt decided to go away with Angel Tax for DPIIT recognized startups like us, we also expect them to bring some policies for the fast deployment of the Startup India fund to the recognized startups.

Publication: Deccan Herald

Date: January 28, 2020

On February 1, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Budget in the Parliament. This will be a crucial one for the country, amid rising concerns of an economic slowdown, retail inflation, and a consistent dip in demand and consumption. The Indian startup ecosystem, especially the ecommerce sector, in 2019, saw many hurdles surrounding a comprehensive tax and regulatory framework, introduction of the Personal Data Protection Bill, new FDI norms, and GST compliance. But this year, the emerging players of the industry are hopeful for an impetus in the form of tax exemption and online-offline parity ahead of the Union Budget 2020.

Publication: Yourstory

Date: January 28, 2020

India’s startup ecosystem has come a long way in the last one decade, standing as the world’s third most robust ecosystem, after the US and China. We also rank third on the list of most number of unicorns, close to 25 at present as compared to only 2 in 2010. As India envision to become a USD 5 trillion economy, the startup ecosystem can play a highly instrumental role in helping India reach there by creating innovations, employment generation, and thus economic growth. However, to truly facilitate this, we expect the government’s proactive involvement during this budget.

Publication: Deccan Herald

Date: January 28, 2020

One-fourth of startups reported annual turnover up to Rs 10 lakh while one-fifth reported above Rs 1 crore The startup ecosystem is only concentrated in a few States as of 2019. Start-ups are involved in diverse sectors ranging from agriculture to health. A significant share of the start-ups still rely on friends and family for funds. These conclusions are based on a pilot survey on the Indian startup sector conducted between November 2018 and April 2019 by the Reserve Bank of India. The startup sector is concentrated in a few States. The graph shows the % of start-ups which participated in the survey. It indicates that Karnataka has the highest number of start-ups.

Publication: The Hindu

Date: January 28, 2020