There’s been an exciting startup ecosystem brewing in India over the past few years. A few well-known success stories such as InMobi and Flipkart’s have created a decent follow-up culture for those seeking to make it big both locally but also, very noticeably, internationally. That’s one of the interesting trends that strikes me the most — the fact that so many Indian startups seem to have an international agenda.
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Other outstanding success stories include that of RedBus. As mentioned by CNNMoney, the bus booking startup was acquired by a joint Chinese-South African venture for around US$125-million which made it the biggest acquisition as of yet in the country.
By encouraging innovation through seed and angel investment, the Indian accelerator GSF is attempting to mold startups through intensity of mentorship, deep collaboration with the ecosystem and the creation of an international spring-board. So while these startups are being built up, GSF is also putting its money on taking them to international markets.
“Startups are going global because the markets are larger, the customers make decisions faster and they are less price sensitive than the customers in emerging markets,” says Mukund Mohan, CEO-in-residence at Microsoft Accelerator which is another very popular accelerator in India. These startups do not only look to other developing regions to expand their markets. The startup Instamojo, for example, offers a digital marketplace for online content that’s aimed at US customers.
Most of the ventures listed below have the potential of creating international appeal and entering other developing markets and beyond. They are part of GSF’s second batch of startups, but can they take it to their skills to an international level?
As mentioned by TechCrunch, one of the most notable of these startups is Dhilcare. The company has created a simplified electrocardiogram machine that is used to measure heart rate activity. This device can also be connected to smart devices that would then enable it to send reports or record the patient’s activity. Dhilcare’s hopes for rural patients to have access to diagnoses from remote doctors.
Clinchpad describes itself as offering sales pipeline management software for businesses. This would in turn help you better “visualize your sales funnel and track leads efficiently,” and could theoretically be applied to any business.
Postergully is an online shop where people can buy all kinds of arty-retro merchandise. These include anything from badges and vinyl stickers to key chains and bumper stickers.
Triptern is an Indian traveling startup that wants to “re-invent travel with automatic trip planning.” It encourages social traveling where users can plan their travels on-the-go.
Another startup promising international attention, Browntape lets merchants track their sales on popular sites such as Flipkart, eBay or Amazon alike.
Timesaverz lets users book household services on short notice. These include anything from your laundry to house cleaning. The company prides itself on efficiency, accountability and transparency. This service is much like the popular American odd-jobs-on-demand startup Exec which connects those seeking or willing to do random physical tasks with those in need of help or without adequate time.
AirStream lets you stream or move content from your computer to your mobile device. Content such as media or other files could be accessed via this app. It’s already up and running on Google Play and has received good feedback thus far.
Swym also revolves around ecommerce but focuses on the users instead. Users can manage “targeted shopping email from [their] favorite Retailers & Brands.” The startup helps you adjust your promotional inbox to your liking.
Tiny Surprise is another ecommerce platform that focuses on delivering gifts in India. Yes, there’s an ecommerce site for all products it seems. These gifts come in surprising packages of all kinds, from baked goods to teddy bears and the works.
Flinto offers a subscription deal for young children which includes a monthly box filled with themed goodies.
Tradestreet wants to eliminate the complexities of stock markets by introducing fully transparent portfolios of traders that you can invest in.
ridingO is one that would be welcome in many developing countries. By providing a carpooling platform, the startup focuses on safety, coordination and mutually beneficial smooth cost sharing.
That’s one of the great things about most tech startups. Once it has proven itself locally, the concept or service can be applied or adapted to different markets and regions very easily. Tech startups engaging in social networking and crowdsourced content-sharing platforms for example, are by default international.
Image via TripNotice.com
