A peek into key sectors and themes at TechSparks 2021, India's largest startup-tech conference
Designed with the theme, “What’s Next: Rethinking the future”, YourStory will host its six-day virtual startup-tech conference, TechSparks 2021, between October 25 and October 30, 2021.
For over 12 years, TechSparks has been the go-to place to discover startups, entrepreneurs and innovations set to shape the future of everything. First started in 2010, each edition of TechSparks has helped primary and emerging stakeholders to come together on one platform, enabling them to understand existing challenges and bring a clear vision on the road ahead.
In its 13th edition, with the theme “What’s Next: Rethinking the future”, TechSparks 2021 will serve as the forum to hear directly from leaders, entrepreneurs and pioneers who are leading transformation in their industries and paving the way for the future.
The six-day long event, to be held between October 25 and October 30, 2021, will see 10+ main sector tracks, 15+ special focus tracks and sessions spanning 300+ hours. The conversations will take a deep dive across healthtech, foodtech, SaaS, D2C, spacetech, retail-tech, fintech, edtech, and agritech, among others.
Here’s a peek into the key tracks and themes, which will see some of the most influential leaders across industries discuss and share their views on a wide array of topics.
Key sectors in Focus
Healthtech
The Indian healthtech market is expected to grow at a 39 percent compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) over FY2020-FY2023, and is expected to reach $50 billion by 2033. The opportunity is huge. More than that, the pandemic has induced a fast-paced wave of innovation in the Indian healthcare industry. The sessions under this track will deep dive into trends, prospects of growth, and challenges across this sector.
Edtech
Edtech, a $2 billion market in India, has already seen its first decacorn with BYJU's. Moreover, the push for online and hybrid education amid the pandemic has made edtech one of the most sought after sectors for both entrepreneurs as well as investors. The sessions under this track will bring forward industry views on the changing landscape of education in India, future trends, hybrid learning models, international and Tier II domains and much more.
Fintech/ BFSI
India has the highest fintech adoption rate globally at 87 percent, which is significantly higher than the global average rate of 64 percent. The Indian fintech market is currently valued at $31 billion and is expected to grow to $84 billion by 2025, at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22 percent. The rise in consumer and enterprise interest towards sub-sectors such as insurtech, regtech and neobanking is further catapulting the fintech/BFSI (banking, financial services, and insurance) growth in India. This track will enable discussions around the global outlook and fintech opportunities, emerging trends, challenges and more.
SaaS
Software as a service (SaaS) in India is a trillion-dollar opportunity. India currently has around 1,000 SaaS startups, including 10 unicorns, that generate a combined $2 billion to $3 billion annual revenue and employ nearly 40,000 people. The sessions under this track will analyse the SaaS opportunity curve, unearthing challenges and gaps across niche areas in India.
Retailtech, Ecommerce, Logistics
The post-pandemic era has given Indian startups a huge opportunity to boost the ‘Make in India’ dream by tapping into some deep-rooted problems. One of these is unorganised retail. The retail tech boom in conjunction with the ecommerce and logistics spurt is helping traditional players across these industries to gradually adopt technology and embrace the digital roadmap. This track will facilitate discussions pertaining to deeper penetration of ecommerce, logistics and digital payments, retail 2.0, future trends, next unicorns in the space and more.
D2C
In 2020, India had more than 80 million Indian shoppers. In the post-pandemic era, this number is now expected to reach 200 million by 2025. This track will focus on the new-age online consumer set with insatiable needs and shifting preferences, difficult to be served by traditional players alone. The sessions will also cover trends across the burgeoning internet ecosystem and changing consumer behaviour leading to the emergence of the direct to consumer (D2C) distribution channel.
Spacetech
Spacetech has gained a lot of attention in the year 2020 with new spacetech reforms announced and the formation of IN-SPACe aimed at including private players in the sector. Opening up of commercial space missions and other initiatives have also made stakeholders eye spacetech as a potential sector with future growth opportunities. This track will feature discussions around spacetech applications, policies, challenges of funding, and building sustainable startup ecosystems and monitoring growth stories.
Proptech
Of late, proptech players in India have moved ahead of the curve from being just a listing or intermediary platform. With the integration of technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and data analytics, real estate startups are transforming this space and building one-stop solutions for consumers. This track will focus on factors leading to the transformation of proptech in India and the challenges, growth and opportunities ahead.
Agritech
Agritech in India is projected to grow to a $30 billion-$35 billion market by 2025. The technology and regulatory reforms in the sector have pushed the sector to start thinking about new-age methodologies. The burgeoning startups in the agritech and allied services segment are also urging farmers and associated intermediaries to look for new avenues of revenue growth. To understand the current status and future possibilities in the agritech sector, this track will foster discussions around post-pandemic challenges, upscaling farm-to-fork in India, agri ecommerce, emerging technologies in India and more.
Foodtech
The pandemic has propelled foodtech to be one of the most aggressively growing sectors. While Swiggy is already in the race to become a decacorn, Zomato has made its public debut in the Indian stock market. The change in consumer behaviour has made analysts peg the market to reach INR 1,868.19 billion by 2025. To answer the big question of what’s next, this track will feature sessions around scaling foodtech startups to unicorn level, cracking the profitability mantra, understanding diversification challenges and more.
Creator Economy
Creator economy refers to the class of businesses built by content creators and community builders. This includes social media influencers, bloggers, and videographers as well as tech entrepreneurs offering software and finance tools to the content creators to help scale and monetise. In the last few years, content creators have turned into entrepreneurs and gained traction in the media ecosystem. This track will feature success stories with focus on understanding the key challenges that content creators face, pandemic-induced opportunities, the growth curve and future trends.
So join us October 25-30, 2021 at TechSparks 2021 to be part of an immersive, inspiring and unique experience with startup awards, product launches, policy discussions, masterclasses, and more.
Register now to get your access pass to TechSparks 2021 here.
Edited by Anju Narayanan