While most of us are still experiencing fatigue from the pandemic, the effects of COVID-19 pandemic is still an inevitable, and critical topic to discuss. It is just something that we need to debate and talk about right now, and for years to come, whether we want to or not. This is because the scale of the pandemic’s effects is so grand, and there is a lot that we can learn from this time in history.

The pandemic is accelerating change across all industries. Apart from the rapid shift to a digital-first approach, severe supply chain disruption and border lockdowns have meant businesses now need to respond to a volatile global market rapidly.

As a result, businesses that once planned their digital strategy in long-term phases must now condense their initiatives to a matter of months, weeks or even days. The reduced timeline for these investments also increases the pressure for businesses to get it right the first time.

The pandemic has provided a glimpse into a future where digital has become the first layer for every interaction, rather than just a cog in the wheel. This shift has led organisations and individuals to speed up the adoption curve almost overnight.

Digital and mobile channels have become the primary customer-engagement model, and automated processes have become a major drive for productivity. An agile way of working has become the prerequisite for seemingly daily changes to customer behaviour.

If there is one positive takeaway, it’s the increased experimentation among customers and organisations. We’re in a unique moment in time where companies can learn and progress quicker than ever before.

The silver lining from today’s crisis will profoundly influence ways that build closer ties with customers, employees and stakeholders.

Also read: How cloud computing is helping startups navigate the new normal

The new normal – it’s everywhere, but what does it mean?

As we all collectively strive to get back to pre-pandemic life, we have to accept that many aspects will never be the same, and that’s not a bad thing.

For one, COVID-19 has improved the way some businesses manage their operations. For instance, the text message service you receive on your mobile during your visit to the doctors, instead of queuing up in an overcrowded lobby and spreading germs.

This is an excellent time to reflect on the pandemic’s effects on our key industries and what they need to do to prepare for the new normal. It is necessary to determine what has changed as the world shifted to digital solutions that met its changing needs, audiences, customer service, and online experiences such as work and school.

This change provides an opportunity to leverage relevant information to improve operations and ensure the safety of customers and employees upon reopening.

How to foster a culture of experimentation

As the world opens up again, we will need to focus on how businesses will adapt and continue to invest as they foster a meaningful culture of experimentation. Implementing a culture of experimentation may come across as daunting at first, but opportunities to present ideas and ask questions should be created.

Companies must encourage employees to apply a “test and learn” approach to their daily activities in order to drive innovation, prevent stagnation and mitigate risks.

This approach ensures that employees are engaged and encouraged to stay curious while remaining relevant in a data-driven manner and delivering a quality experience for customers in a post-COVID-19 world.

Rapid experimentation can also drive new ideas and innovation across industries impacted by the pandemic, such as e-commerce. The Country Road Group, one of Australia’s largest fashion retailers, found that its online sites have become an increasingly integral part of its business, which COVID-19 accelerated.

It wanted to embrace a more agile way of working and run much faster, more powerful experiments, which Optimizely, together with accredited partner New Republique made possible.

Also Read: How COVID-19 was a blessing in disguise for these Vietnamese startups

One experiment involved a shopper’s experience of moving the “Add to Bag” button above the product copy, which resulted in a 19 per cent increase in clicks to “Add to Wishlist” and a 6 per cent rise in “Add to Bag”. This led to an overall purchase conversion hike of 2 per cent, representing a revenue increase of more than five per cent.

Experimentation does not have to be complicated, and there are ways to simplify and focus on avoiding being overwhelmed by the complexities. Streamlining is required to understand what is working and what isn’t.

Companies have triumphantly emerged from the pandemic, despite the struggles that the economy has experienced.

Embracing a culture of experimentation opens up possibilities for businesses, making them stronger and more resilient for the challenges this pandemic is likely to cause for years to come.

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More often than not, goals have typically been viewed as a list penned down at the start of the year, followed persistently for a couple of days, and revisited remorsefully at the end of the year. With no tangible end in sight for most, these goals don’t necessarily pan out as habits that last longer than a few weeks at a time.

The rise of self-improvement mobile apps has made the process easier in recent years, allowing users to keep track of their progress and habits through tech-enabled platforms that provide them with rewards in return for sticking to their plan.

While most understand the importance of goal setting, not many see them through. As an entrepreneur and a strong advocate of self-improvement, goals have grown to become a guiding vision that keeps me focused and motivated.

Whether an individual is looking to work on themselves or an entrepreneur on a mission to grow their business, here are some benefits to logging goals digitally to ensure these intangible plans turn into reality through the help of technology.

A step closer to reality

Acting as a guiding light towards the right direction, keeping and sticking to goals comes with the right mindset. From listing down ideas to eventually reaping the fruits from an evolved perception and lifestyle, planning for tangible benefits takes consistent effort and commitment.

One such example is everyone’s yearly New Year’s resolutions to either lose some weight, to be financially prudent, or even to lead a mindful lifestyle. These positive thoughts are typically followed by wishful planning that, most often than not, rarely result in consistent actions that can effectively mesh into an individual’s lifestyle organically.

Also Read: Zilliqa Capital debuts with the goal to invest in decentralised and fintech solutions in SEA, India

Through tech-enabled platforms, such as GoalKeepin, goals get broken down into smaller, measurable targets for individuals to keep track of their progress. Bigger generic goals no longer seem daunting and hard to achieve, allowing individuals to make constant tangible changes that align with their goals.

Community-driven success mentality

In this age of social media, goal setting and progress tracking is fuelled by what individuals observe on their social platforms. People often pander to make changes to their lifestyle based on how they are influenced by those around them.

Through tech platforms like GoalKeepin, users can join a community of those who choose to make a difference in their lives with each goal they set, defined by their values.

As an entrepreneur myself, I understand the importance of how influence-based self-reflection is crucial in ensuring consistency of hitting each defined target and milestone.

Undeniably, having a community that strives towards a common goal can aid in boosting commitment and discipline to achieve each target that is set. Whether it is a group of friends on a shared mission or an online community striving for a similar outcome, a sense of camaraderie is a good motivator to get started and persevere.

Self-care applications with networking capabilities to connect and interact with mutuals bring about a sense of togetherness, especially when users are able to keep track of one another’s progress, acknowledge and celebrate key milestones together.

The power of tangible benefits

Tangible rewards are found to be an effective motivator in establishing a healthy, long-term pattern. Allocating a reward for each goal met allows for individuals to be positively reinforced in their journey towards change.

On the other hand, rather than simply remaining stagnant, negatively reinforcing individuals becomes an added motivator to stick to their intended game plan.

This key aspect differentiates GoalKeepin from other lifestyle mobile apps in the market through its inbuilt reward system. Each goal is attached to a monetary reward that is given to those who successfully finish their challenge, while users who fail to do so wind up losing their participation fee.

Also read: 5 productivity hacks for successful people

Not only does this keep them on their toes but it allows users to be accountable for tracking and completing each challenge that they sign up for.

As attention spans and the constant usage of digital platforms shape the way everyone makes and keeps to their intended goals, such tech-enabled tools can aid in them forming lifelong habits that are here to stay. GoalKeepin has been proven to be an effective solution that aims to break down complex goals into action plans while connecting users to a community of people who are on a similar journey and with an added monetary benefit.

Despite 2021 being disruptive and with half the year has flown past us, there’s no time like the present to start on a goalkeeping journey to move towards a positive lifestyle.

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It used to be that edutech was considered futuristic, but now with its real-world impact becoming more apparent, the industry has reached a pivotal point. One study published by America’s National Bureau of Economic Research found that edutech initiatives offer “evidence of positive effects in developing countries”.

Other studies have similarly found that edutech solutions resolve many other issues, including reducing the burden on teachers and helping career counsellors guide students to informed university and career decisions.

Of all the milestones achieved at Cialfo—the most meaningful ones relate to our role in improving access to quality education.

Whether it is the work we’ve done with the Windle Trust or the launch of a free plan during the pandemic to help schools get started with distance counselling, the results are all very real and impactful for anyone to overlook. 

Put simply, technology can make big improvements to education– as it has for many countries in Asia Pacific where edutech is promoting educational inclusion for those in need.

As national lockdowns and stay-at-home orders emerged, the region saw a threefold increase in downloads of virtual learning apps from six million to 20 million.

But equitable distribution remains a challenge, with one study from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) finding that learning losses in the region range from eight per cent in the Pacific to 55 per cent in South Asia. 

We cannot talk about equitable distribution of education without discussing the elephant in the room: internet access or the lack thereof. The same ADB study found that in lower-middle income economies, only 18 per cent of households on average have a computer and 41 per cent have internet access at home.

Also Read: How edutech startups can accelerate active learning

Because of this, online learning is predominantly conducted using mobile phones, which are more readily available in lower-income countries. In support of this, governments have begun implementing programs to make remote learning accessible through mobile phones and via the subsidised distribution of connectivity and devices. 

Beyond government and public sector intervention in bridging the digital divide—for edutech to be truly transformational—the industry needs to urgently address a couple of things, including:

Problems to solve

We at Cialfo recognise that in many parts of the world, people don’t have a choice over their circumstances. We do what we do because we want to enable a direct transition from school to university and allow students to decide what their future looks like.

I can tell you first-hand that even if one kid from a disadvantaged background decides to go to a college—it creates a multi-generational impact.

To other edutech players that want to contribute to improving access to information and student outcomes, I’d recommend focusing on one or two issues to solve.

An emerging area that’s seeing some success is teacher and parent support and training on the use of remote learning technologies.

Nearly two years into the pandemic, we know that simply making content available is no longer enough. Parents and teachers must be equally engaged in the learning process to ensure students’ learning and outcomes significantly increase. 

Keep it simple

Businesses are often tempted to go big, or go home. When it comes to using edutech solutions, we’ve found the simpler the offering—the better.

Do you remember when the interactive whiteboards launched, and flopped? This was essentially an internet-connected computer screen that was meant to replace classroom boards, but it simply failed to work and was often ignored by teachers. 

The need of the hour is easy-to-use and engaging solutions, such as the radio station approach used by the NGO Pratham to enable learning in poorly connected tribal villages in India’s Thane District Council.

These lessons are also recorded on mobile applications and can be accessed by students when a smartphone becomes available. The program also fields two calls per session, during which students and parents are guided through activities by the host.

Some other countries are finding success trialing Whatsapp and WeChat to assign students with specific chapters to read and questions to respond to, while students are required to send their answers back to the teachers to assess. Even as other approaches emerge, more needs to be done. 

Barclays estimates our industry will grow between 14.5 and 16.4 per cent, to a total value of US$368bn-406bn by 2025. It’s a big opportunity for edutech, but for it to be truly significant, the benefits must reach underserved communities.

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A unicorn is a privately owned tech startup that surpasses the valuation of US$1 billion. India has been churning out unicorns at a crazy rate lately. Let’s find out why.

The Indian tech industry has reached a new peak. For years, Indian has been the world’s outsourcing capital, but finally, the time for Indian startups has come. 2021 has been remarkable for some of India’s tech startups so far, despite the pandemic.

In fact, when most businesses were shutting down because of the virus, lockdowns accelerated economic digitisation worldwide and more so in India, which had already been on the path towards digitisation prior to the pandemic. 

As a result, some of the big tech startups in India have seen massive growth in their user bases as well as in interest from investors. Just in the first seven months of 2021, India has produced 16 unicorns: namely, Digit Insurance, InnovAccer, Meesho, Five Star Business Finance, Infra.

Market, Pharmeasy, CRED, Groww, Gupshup, Chargebee, Urban Company, Mohalla Tech, Moglix, Zeta, BrowserStack, and the most recent one being BlackBuck.

That’s beyond what was expected from the country this year, even more than 2020’s count, which was already the best year for India unicorns so far. Interestingly, these Unicorns span across various industries from fintech to healthcare and from social platforms to B2B e-commerce. That’s a good indicator that this isn’t just an industry-specific bubble but rather a sign of true economic digitisation. 

But with billions of dollars being poured in as investments, it might be worth asking what makes Indian tech startups so investable? What is the reason behind India’s unicorn boom, and is it even sustainable? Here are some reasons why India has grown to be the world’s unicorn hub.

Untapped audience

India is an enormous market with a population of around 1.3 Billion. But despite an evergreen and growing tech sector, ridiculously affordable mobile devices and internet plans, and various government programs aimed at encouraging digitisation, only around half of India’s population has access to the internet.

Also Read: How these four India-based startups are impacting the earth

Don’t get me wrong that is still a lot of users; in fact, India ranks second in terms of internet users worldwide. But what’s interesting here is that India isn’t just one of the biggest markets out there; it is also, for the most part, untapped.

Unlike other countries that represent far more mature and saturated markets, India presents itself as an opportunity for companies to expand and grow big. 

This is one of the biggest reasons behind India’s tech boom; it is the world’s largest market which is bound to almost double in size in the coming decades.

With young markets like these, companies have the opportunity to establish themselves early on as strong players for the long run. Open markets incentivise rapid expansion, which requires startups to look for large capitals right off the gates.

Native startups have an inherent advantage

Part of the reason tech startups are turning into giants almost overnight in India is that many of them have managed to solve some of India’s traditional problems with technology. Take India’s growing fintech unicorns, for example.

Groww and Zerodha are India’s most popular investment platforms that let the average consumer invest in various assets. Traditionally Indian has never had an investment culture; thus, these companies are using technology to overcome a cultural barrier, and needless to say, it’s working. 

Beyond just solving problems, these companies have mastered the art of selling to the Indian consumer. Consider CRED, another fintech unicorn that rewards its users for paying their credit card bills on time.

By offering the right mix of lucrative reward programs and celebrity-focused marketing campaigns, two things that India loves the most, Cred has managed to acquire around 5.2 million users that account for almost 20 per cent of India’s credit card bill payments. 

The point here is that the coming generation of Indian startups has cracked the code for customer acquisition. By addressing deep-rooted, previously unresolved problems with cutting-edge technology and banking on India’s rapid digitisation for marketing and publicity, young startups are growing faster than anyone could expect.

It’s also worth noting that most of these unicorns are mobile apps, which means that if this billion-dollar app bonanza continues, then app developers and mobile app development in India are likely to get significantly more expensive. 

Foreign investment

When talking about India’s growing unicorns, it’s impossible not to talk about the growing number of international investors they attract. India being the second-largest and fastest-growing tech market in the world is attracting a ton of foreign investment.

So far in 2021 alone, around US$11 billion have been invested in Indian startups, and a big chunk of this is from foreign investors. Tiger Global, a US-based investment firm, led the recent investing round in India, overtaking Sequoia Capital as the top investor. 

Also Read: How Singapore’s tech community is helping India in its battle against COVID-19

Another primary reason why investors are drawn to India could be their losing interest in China. China being the largest tech market globally, has always been a big attraction for international investors; however, being a relatively mature market, its investment opportunities are somewhat limited.

Contrast that with India, where users are simply dipping their toes in the world of tech and the markets are relatively unregulated, and it should be obvious where most investors will be willing to bet.

India is a young nation with a raging entrepreneurial spirit. The right combination of a hungry and growing market, generous investors, bold entrepreneurs, and the technology to tie it all together has led to a time where it’s raining unicorns in India. 

Some experts believe that the trend is likely to continue, that India will continue to churn out more unicorns over the coming months and years. Others criticise some of these unicorns as a ‘cash-burning disaster’ that will eventually end up bursting the unicorn bubble in India.

Either way, it’s hard to disagree that the time for Indian tech startups is here; and India’s journey towards becoming a global technology leader has only just begun.

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India ranks 63 in the World Bank Ease of Doing Business 2020 rankings. While the government has made rapid strides in improving access to credit for businesses, to scale up operations or for young entrepreneurs willing to start, many innovative minds have thought through this problem and have offered some financial and technological solutions.

India has the third-largest fintech ecosystem in the world. With the rapid increase in internet penetration along with favourable demography, India has the highest fintech adoption rate globally. Of the 2,100 FinTech companies present in India, over 67 per cent have been set up in the last 5 years. The fintech industry is expected to grow to $84 billion at a CAGR of 22 per cent.  

Let us look at some tech companies which have revolutionised the fintech space:

Klub

As many businesses cannot get access to funding due to traditional investment structures that have set high growth and various obligations as their parameters, Klub came out with a patron model that enables brands to get ready finance. It functions with the help of a community-focused revenue-based model.

Founded by Anurakt Jain and Ishita Verma in 2019, Klub makes use of financial innovation, community engagement and data-driven analytics to provide capital to many brands across sectors. In the last year, Klub has been able to fulfil the capital needs of more than 80 brands across India with a patron base of 2500.

Inai

In the modern digital space where data protection forms the bedrock of every company. When businesses expand to new markets they are constrained by the lack of developer resources and payment skills. This constrains growth and offers a setback to small businesses willing to expand.

Also read: Going Global: Malaysia’s homegrown fintechs take on the world

Founded by Anta Pattabiraman and Karthik Narayanan, Inai enables merchants to set up their payment stack with a single integration. This would enable merchants to add new methods, optimise their methods and future proof their stack. It allows merchants to connect with multiple payment service providers, wallets, BNPL platforms, open banking providers, fraud, BI and accounting in a single integration.

Numadic

The logistic sector of India is deeply fragmented leading to an increase in logistical costs and delays in transportation. Logistics contributes to about 5% of Indian GDP but costs more than 14%. Despite most of the transportation done on the road, most truck owners have shunned from adopting technological solutions to make their work easy, systematic, and transparent. 

Founded by Luke Sequeira in 2016, Numadic is aimed to revolutionise India’s fleet management system. 

In the world of in-time deliveries and changing government regulations because of the pandemic relying on GPS alone is not enough. Numadic uses analytical data to suggest the best routes, fuel consumptions with the help of smart sensors which provides real-time information for the fleet manager.  

Castler

According to TransUnion, a global credit reporting agency reported that the percentage of suspected financial services digital fraud attempts increased 149 per cent in the first four months of 2021 as compared to the last four months of 2020. 

This has raised the demand for a safe digital ecosystem. Castler, which was founded by Vineet Singh, Dinesh Kumar and Ritesh Tiwari seeks to make use of technology and innovation by digitising the escrow accounts making them accessible for businesses. 

Digital transactions are expected to grow to 71.7 per cent of all payment transactions by 2025. This has provided companies like Castler which was launched in January this year sufficient scope to expand their operations.

Homeville

We face many hiccups when we are about to pay our down payment towards buying our house. Homeville, founded by Hari Krishnan Kannappan, Lalit Menghani, Madhusudan Sharma, Shalin Sanjay Shah and Anjli Zutshi is a financial technology company in the housing space that aims to build a technology-driven housing credit enablement network through its multiple platforms and has adopted a hybrid capital approach to drive business growth.

Also read: How these four India-based startups are impacting the earth

It works on three platforms: Home Capital, Bharat Housing Network and HomeNxt. This would give a boost to accelerate the demand for real estate and give a boost to this sector which is presently in the doldrums owing to the pandemic.

Homeville is built on Open banking principles and creates significant operating leverage with an in-house built technology stack.

EnsuredIT

The Indian insurance industry is expected to grow at 14% CAGR from USD 110 Billion in 2020 to USD 400 Billion by 2030. However, the insurance sector is highly unorganised having high fixed costs of operations, small & expensive distribution and low adaption to technology. 

EnsuredIT, founded by Amit Boni emerged as a partner to brokers, corporate agencies and other sales networks to maximise their operations. This would not only help in increasing affordability but also enable better product-market fit and financial inclusion to empower end customers and Insurance Intermediaries with AI-based product platforms for transformational customer experience.

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More than 3.25 million new cars and 20 million new two-wheelers are sold out in India of which more than 60 per cent are financed. With the increasing demand for personal transport in this pandemic, the two-wheeler industry is set to boom, especially among millennials.

Also read: Angel Investors: leading the charge for startup growth in Thailand

Founded by Harsh Saruparia and Sumit Chhazed, OTO offers customers a convenient option to finance their vehicle by introducing the option of two-wheeler leasing in India. Customers can get their vehicles in less than 30 minutes with no paperwork and have to pay 30 per cent less EMI. Customers may also choose to upgrade to a new vehicle or retain it by paying an amount.  

Need for financing options

India has got the potential to emerge as one of the major business destinations for the world. We are making considerable progress in various fields like investing in infrastructure and removing the need for multiple licenses. However, the private sector can also take considerable steps especially in fintech or even in logistics so that it frees up more wealth to be invested for gainful returns and improve the business environment in the country.

These startups will be pitching at the 9Unicorns Venture Catalysts demo day with other up-and-coming startups offering their own unique products and services. Join them on August 11 and 12 to connect with some of the most promising young startups in a virtual networking session. To learn more, visit their official page here.

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Photo by Pixabay from Pexels

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This article is produced by the e27 team, sponsored by 9Unicorns

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