- The Indian diaspora spread around the world and the citizens at home must have been experiencing a euphoric feeling to see the economic heft, traction, visibility, acceptance, and undeniable presence of some of the biggest firms making the global community take notice of us. It’s a matter of great pride to watch how Indian businesses have come of age over the last few years in every conceivable field reaffirming our aspirational society’s goal to be counted among the best. Even some of the cutting-edge technology fields like space, AI, gene therapy, nanotechnology, robotics, and some such big tech are witnessing the Indian footprint. Indeed, we are second to none on several fronts. Or are we? Let’s delve into comprehending this.
PC: Youth Corporate Magazine
- Being on the subject, it must come as no surprise to see how two of India’s most popular online payment options, UPI and RuPay recently spread to three countries viz. Sri Lanka, Mauritius, and the UAE allowing these payment options in their domestic markets to take effect. Mind you, UPI and RuPay are both state-backed initiatives. Their international acceptance is a result of good tech and India’s diplomatic heft. Even though we are basking in the glory of finding our tech firms establishing their presence, however, there is a bit of a concern as tech developed by private startups doesn’t travel well abroad or on expected lines. Take, for instance, Zomato shut at least 10 of its foreign subsidiaries last year. It’s a worrying sign.
- Further, startup Genome, a research outfit, studied the impact of expanding a firm’s customer base across markets. It found that when startups target a customer base beyond the home market from an early stage, there are all-around benefits. A bigger pool of customers to tap into will also lead to faster growth. This general principle doesn’t apply to India. India was identified as a market where startups that sought retail customers could become unicorns (valued at over $1 billion) by doing business only at home. The sheer size of the Indian market provides an easier path to a unicorn status than it would for an Israeli startup. The same logic should apply to China, the second most populous country.
PC: TOI
- Contrastingly, Chinese startups have made a bigger splash overseas than their Indian counterparts. Startup Genome ranks Shanghai on par with Tel Aviv, Berlin, and Singapore as leading markets for innovation. Of course, Silicon Valley is right on top along with New York and London. Note that the Indian startups have been presented with a large and underserved domestic market to tap. The focus naturally has been the domestic consumer base. There’s a downside to it as an eager home market can be served without necessarily innovating much. Needless to mention, an economy set to be the world’s third largest needs to see more innovation. Here, we need more global champions to establish ourselves on par with global players.
