After US and China, newer locations are playing host to startups

Technology entrepreneurship has started making inroads in India, Canada, Japan, and Singapore, and attracting a new wave of investors.

The global startup ecosystem has so far been largely dominated by two regions – Silicon Valley in the US and China, but there are now new pockets of entrepreneurship emerging across the world like India, Canada, Singapore and even France.

Highlighting these aspects at a panel discussion on Making of an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem and Global Opportunity for Startup at the Vizag Fintech Festival, David Callele of the Saskatchewan Capital Network, Canada, said his country is actively promoting startups, with all incubators and accelerators being driven by various government agencies.

David said each region of Canada had started to develop particular expertise in the area of technology startups.

India, considered to be among top five startup destinations globally, has witnessed some new trends. Providing statistics, Shradha Sharma, Founder and CEO, YourStory, said that in the first nine months of the current calendar year, 660 startups saw investments worth a total $9.12 billion. Of these, 24 companies raised more than $100 million in funding.

“Most of the money came from the US and China, but the interesting trend was that a lot of startups received investment from Indian investors,” she said.

The global startup ecosystem has been flourishing in places like India, Israel and the UK, but even a developed economy like France, which has been low on the entrepreneurship radar, has started to show positive signs. Dojo Group, a decade-old Paris-based company provides a full range of entrepreneurial services. Its COO and Co-founder Joel Grea said, “France is in the middle of a cultural shift towards entrepreneurship and a new generation of people want to create startups.”

Ken Chua of the Monetary Authority of Singapore highlighted the three important factors which can drive entrepreneurship: regulation, infrastructure and global connectivity. He felt regulations should not outrun innovation, but create a platform for startups to thrive.

At the same time, the panellists said entrepreneurs need to be clear in their thinking about business objectives. David said, “Any investor is always looking for a return on their investment and startups need to reach a positive cash flow.” Joel added that there were four key elements he looks for while investing in startups: mission, talent, product and market.

According to Shradha, in a country like India where the startup hotspots are major metros, the next frontier of opportunity would come from smaller cities.