Get All Access for $5/mo

3 Reasons Why Indian Startups Are Poised To Take Over The Global Market Entrepreneurship is seen as a pivotal link to propelling India into a global innovation hub and economic leader in the near term.

By Vikas Sekhri

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.

Shutterstock

In India, it is hard to miss that we are in the midst of an entrepreneurial revolution. From government policies and initiatives creating an enabling ecosystem for the sector to well-known global investors mobilizing funds into start-ups, all around us, the start-up ecosystem is abuzz. Entrepreneurship is seen as a pivotal link to propelling India into a global innovation hub and economic leader in the near term.

I am certainly excited about the potential of start-ups in India to solve critical problems across a complete range of tech-enabled sectors. However, as my team and I are building a start-up of our own, CashCare, I can't help but think about the potential our start-up and others like us also hold for the global context.

The Indian start-up ecosystem is at an inflection point, about to take off and surpass the current heights it has already achieved. To that end, I believe three central characteristics of Indian start-ups make us more nimble to create global companies than start-ups from any other market.

1. Our People

First, the dynamism, ambition, and awareness of our entrepreneurs are unparalleled. Many of today's Indian entrepreneurs, including myself, have come back to India after establishing careers and studying abroad. We are rooted in our Indian culture, but our global exposure helps us from day one to see how our businesses can be adapted for other markets.

From having a deep understanding of how global markets function to having personally used global products and services, the new age Indian entrepreneur is wholly aware of the world outside India and this paradigm informs his or her start-up. We are inherently programmed to compare and contrast our businesses to counterparts in more developed markets such as the US.

As a result, Indian entrepreneurs are in a better position to innovate and tailor their products to cater to a wider, more global set of needs.

2. Our Problem Solving Approach

Second, Indian entrepreneurs are compelled to build more resilient companies given the lack of data and infrastructure in our ecosystem. For instance, my company CashCare offers consumers access to credit at the point of sale to help finance their purchases.

In the US and Europe, similar companies harness existing data on consumers to provide credit. CashCare, however, is unique in that in addition to harnessing existing data, we also use novel metrics to identify new data sources and to create data sets that elucidate more about the credit worthiness of our consumers. This is because only 1-2% of Indians have a formalcredit score and traditional lenders currently use ambiguous and inconsistent standards to identify worthy borrowers.

Consequently, CashCare has to do much of the legwork in terms of developing innovative, analytical methods of evaluating our customers in addition to providing them the convenience of point of sale credit.

The creativity required of us Indian entrepreneurs to build multi million and billion dollar companies in resource strapped settings enables us to create solutions that can succeed across the globe. If we can succeed and build volumes in India, then there is no reason why we cannot adapt our companies to similar infrastructure deficient economies in other parts of the developing world or take on competitors in more developed markets.

3. Our Customers

Finally, what stands the Indian entrepreneurial ecosystem the most apart from the rest of the world is our consumer base. The sheer volume of the country's increasingly sophisticated consumer base coupled with its heterogeneity is unique only to India. As start-ups in this country, our challenge is to be able to serve the different customer segments that make up this market.

For instance, at CashCare, we have built a product that is extremely flexible and has a personalized user experience depending on what type of customer is accessing our product. We are constantly evolving our product with different users' benefits in mind.

Successful Indian start-ups have managed to effectively cater to the diverse Indian market, which essentially covers the multitudeof customer profiles world over. As Indian companies, if we achieve excellence with our own consumer base, we are well placed to scale our products and services across the globe.

Given our potential, to achieve global and scale and success, we need to have patience and confidence in our abilities and replication frameworks. As more ecosystem enablers recognize Indian start-ups and evangelize the pathway for collaboration and expansion, Indian start-ups will be willing to take the risk to establish offshore presence, following in the footsteps of companies such as InMobi. Until then, it is up to us as entrepreneurs to continue to diligently build our businesses in India as a stepping stone to our global success.

Vikas Sekhri

Founder and CEO, CashCare

Leadership

Most Problems Fall Into 1 of 3 Layers — Here's How to Effectively Approach Each One

In entrepreneurship, not all problems are created equal. I've found that there are three layers of problems, and each one requires its own type of solution — here's what they are and how to approach each one.

Innovation

Use This Scientific Approach to Transform Your Idea Into a Million-Dollar Success

Even when approaching the unknown, we always have a tool to draw conclusions for better-informed decision-making — the scientific method.

Side Hustle

She Started a T-Shirt Side Hustle as a Recent Grad Working at 'People' Magazine. It Led to a DM From Levi's and $400 Million.

When Michelle Wahler, co-founder and former CEO of Beyond Yoga, moved to California, she went "full steam ahead" on a new venture.

Living

Unleash Unshakable Confidence in 7 Days: The Neuroscience-Backed Blueprint

In the cut-throat business world, self-doubt can be the difference between success and failure, costing you everything.

Business News

ChatGPT's Sam Altman Says This Is the One Thing Keeps Him Up at Night

Altman sat down with Oprah Winfrey to talk about his hopes, dreams, and fears for AI.

Starting a Business

How to Transform Your Idea into an Empire in 5 Steps

Drawing from personal experience and real-world examples, the article outlines five proven steps to help entrepreneurs transform their vision into a thriving empire, from identifying market needs to effective product development to ensuring long-term profitability.