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Big Basket, Mobikwik, BookMyShow, Curefit & Lenskart among others are all set to enter the Unicorn club this year. India stands at 26 unicorns today, making it the third largest unicron hub after US & China.
So what are the factors driving this exponential growth of start-ups?
- The Robust Technology Penetration: The number of smartphone users in India is estimated to double by 2022 to around 859 million. Entrepreneurs & app geeks will love these numbers. Most urban-driven businesses like Uber, Ola, Urban Clap etc are all app-based businesses and are thriving big-time; so much so that online marketplaces and portals all have apps and continuously luring their customers to download the app with exciting deals & cashback’s! The disruption created by app-generated companies make a great impact in a burgeoning smartphone market-size like India’s, an impact which makes a start-up a unicorn in less than 10 years.
- The Growing Middle Class Market: Studies suggest that India’s middle class market will be the driving force of the Indian economy. Currently they account for 19% of the population and in three decades this number will increase to 70%. The discretionary purchasing power of this mushrooming market will spur investment & generate employment-a double boost to the economy.
- Flexibility of Online-Driven Businesses: Growth is inevitable for startups in a hungry & strong consumer base like India and so to stay in the game companies find the need to branch out to more number of services. For e.g., Paytm that started out as a mobile wallet, tied up with a hyperlocal service company called Near.in to venture into online-offline commerce. The flexibility that technology allows to venture out into multiple businesses instills more confidence into entrepreneurs & the market.
