Varun Chandran
Tech entrepreneur and social volunteer from Kerala. He is the founder and CEO of Corporate360, a fast-growing tech startup with offices in Singapore, India and US.
In 2014, over $5 billion were invested in Indian startups — which was three times of what was invested a year before. Apart from serving as a growth ecosystem to its own startups, the country is actually helping entrepreneurs from all over the world, find their footing in different aspects.
1. Availability of technical talent at reasonable OPEX
Most of the startups hit a dead-end when looking for technical talent to accelerate their product development efforts and R&D — either it’s the lack of sufficient funds or simply the fact that the country’s technology skilled talent is scarce.
India on the other hand, offers excellent yet affordable technical talent. Startups are able to choose from college freshmen, mid, junior and senior level software engineers without shaking up their hiring budget or compromising on quality.
2. Fast growing startup ecosystem and active VC community
Even though the country has been known as the best location for IT outsourcing, there is a paradigm shift in trends in the recent years — a number of high profile unicorns have created a positive momentum for startup success.
Today, the Indian startup ecosystem is one of the fastest growing across the world, with an estimate of the total number of entrepreneurial ventures in the country reaching 11,500 very soon. Even global venture capitalists have set shops in India for a considerable amount of time.
3. Large addressable market (primarily for consumer product startups)
Apart from being the biggest and the fastest growing economy, the Indian market is also complemented by a large segment of middle class income households and a considerable youth population. There is a large addressable market for internal consumption which can help startups drive in volume business.
Long story short, being connected to a thriving ecosystem can offer potential partnerships, collaborations and market opportunities to international startups.
Tip: If you’re looking at setting up a technical team in India, hire a local manager who has a fair knowledge of the market as well as the culture required to keep things running efficiently.
