B2B tech startups in India have grown significantly no matter how you look at it. These were the findings of a recent report between NetApp, a data management and hybrid cloud firm, and Zinnov, a global management consulting firm. Among the most staggering figures was a 364 percent increase in sector investment between 2014 and 2018.
The ‘B2B Tech Startup Ecosystem and Role of Corporate Accelerators in India’ study dived deep into B2B tech startups in India. The surging investment, more than USD3.7 million was pumped into the sector last year, has led to a proliferation of B2B tech startups. There are now more than 3200 firms in this arena, up from 900 in 2014. And this is only the beginning.
“The B2B startup wave in India has just begun. Corporates are more open to collaboration with startups, VC firms are more interested in the B2B startup world, and technologies like AI and IoT have proliferated faster into the B2B ecosystem, compared to B2C. This holy combination of corporate support, B2B focused VC funds, and rise of advanced technologies will drive the wave forward,” Sanjay Nath, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Blume Ventures, told the Economic Times of India.
What do B2B tech startups in India do?
Enterprise tech – 41 percent
Fintech – 19 percent
Healthtech – 9 percent
Other sectors targeted by B2B tech startups in India include software as a service, customer relationship management, alternative lending and expense management.
Unicorns show the way forward
There are no shortage of internet companies that B2B tech startups in India can look toward for inspiration. A pair Indian firms entered unicorn status this year after recent funding rounds.
BigBasket, an online grocer, received USD150 million from a group of investors including Alibaba. This helped push the company’s valuation over the USD1 billion mark. They were joined by Dream11, a fantasy sports platform. Hong Kong-based asset manager Steadview Capital acquired a stake in the company that allowed it to reach unicorn status.
“The companies that we are talking about, be it BigBasket or Dream 11, are not overnight stars. They have been working their way up quietly for some time, BigBasket for one has been investing in the supply chain, logistics and technology for long to reach where it is now,” Greyhound Research CEO and Founder Sanchit Vir Gogia explained to Quartz India.
