Biggest learnings from the COVID-19 pandemic

Last March, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus, it proved to be momentous for India's digital story. 

With educational institutions closed, edtech startups took the lead to bridge the learning gap. Online learning brought down barriers to democratise access to quality education while removing the need to attend physical classrooms by leveraging technology.

It wasn't just education that took the digital route; sectors ranging from healthtech, edtech, fintech, OTT, and foodtech also grew at an accelerated pace.

Increased digitisation led to ecommerce taking a more central role in India's functioning, leading to many companies such as logistics solution provider Shiprocket to adapt its processes and offerings to support sellers in the shift from offline to online.

FreshToHomeCEO Shan Khadavil says that consumer behaviour altered dramatically, with people prioritising "safety" and "hygiene" as they moved to purchase food online. 

The pandemic also changed business models, forced many companies to pivot, and put Indian startups at the forefront in the effort to revive the country's economy. 

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The Interview

For a healthy democracy, it is important for governments to take the opinions and suggestions of the citizens. To achieve that, MyGov takes use of social media to communicate the decisions of the government and take the inputs from the citizens. CEO Abhishek Singh says that for the Union Budget of FY22, the platform received 25,000 suggestions from the citizens to forward them to the government. 

Editor’s Pick: Techie Tuesday

Sachin Arora's tryst with computers began when his father's friend began teaching him programming. He was also the first from his family to take up engineering. Today, Sachin is the co-founder and CTPO of Chqbook, a YourStory Media2020 Tech 30 startup, which simplifies financial services for small business owners. Read more.

Startup Spotlight

Using natural sources of nutrients to make healthy food and beverages

When Dhruv Bhushan lost 70 kg, he realised the importance of nutrition and decided to uncomplicate the process of living a healthy lifestyle. So, he and Dev Kabir Malik founded Habbit.Health, an ecosystem of nutritional F&B products. The startup has launched a range of nutritional products that included proteins, ice creams, and super shakes. Read more.

News & Updates

• Caesar Sengupta, the 15-year-old veteran at Google, who drove projects of the search giant such as Next Billion Users and online payments, is leaving the company. The announcement was made by Caesar on social media platforms but he has not decided on his future plans.

• Paytm said its “All-in-One Payment Gateway” business registered over 750 million monthly transactions, having already surpassed volumes to pre-COVID-19 levels. It saw increased adoption of online payments from segments like BFSI, retail and D2C ecommerce, utilities, food delivery, etc.

• Barbeque Nation Hospitality fixed a price band of Rs 498-500 per share for its initial share sale, which will open for public subscription on March 24. The three-day public issue will conclude on March 26.

• Singapore-based venture capital firm M Capital Management has closed its maiden M Venture Partners (MVP) fund at $30.85 million. It plans to invest mainly in seed and pre-Series A companies focused on technology-enabled B2B or B2B2C business models.

• Chinese smartphone maker OnePlus is all set to unveil its latest range of smartphones today. The two new phones — OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro — will be taking the fight forward to the likes of Google Pixels and Samsung Galaxy devices.

Before you go, stay inspired with… 

“It is true that last year was a struggle but one of our biggest learnings from the pandemic is to keep delivering the best service to customers despite crises.”

— Siddhant Wangdi, Founder and CEO, Meatigo

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