AI, ML startups turn new favourite for investors as deeptech becomes backbone for businesses

In business, regardless of whether one is an entrepreneur or an investor, every decision in favour of something is a decision against something else. B2C startups valuations had become inflated and these consumer-oriented startups required – and continue to demand – vast marketing and advertising resources to attract fickle consumers; B2B companies, on the other hand, were attractive, their business models targeted loyal, identifiable clients who could be prospected and converted with far lower spends; and the opportunity to work alongside these founders and help them scale up for international markets has turned out to be a rewarding challenge.

India is moving from a services economy to a product-nation. Along with an increasing focus on creating IPs, entrepreneurs are creating capital-efficient platforms, and this augurs well for the VC industry. India has made remarkable progress in the last three years and moved ahead of the UK to become the third-largest startup ecosystem. Data from Tracxn (an independent analyst firm) indicates a total of 31 unicorns as of September 2019, of which seven acquired this status this year alone. With one of the world’s largest pool of trained engineers and scientists, and a highly aspirational, career-oriented youth base, there is no dearth of talent in the country’s tech and startup hubs that are being further encouraged by international and home-grown accelerators and incubators.