Winston Churchill once said “Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” Cut to 2020, we think this is THE mantra young entrepreneurs live by. Enough and more has already been written about the pandemic and its impact on the world – how it has slowed down economies, disrupted governments, institutions, businesses and triggered a paradigm shift in consumer mindsets around the globe. But the one thing that this unending chaos has failed to shake is – Passion. Passion to innovate, recalibrate and rise from the ashes. And this ‘never say never’ attitude has given birth to a new breed of daring entrepreneurs in India, who with their creative skill sets and innovative approach to complex problem solving are finding a number of ways to maximize the opportunities of the new normal and take their startups a step forward.
Here are a few startups doing it just right in 2020!
Dunzo
Your one stop delivery app
From food, groceries, gifts to medicines or even pet supplies, Dunzo is just like your 3.AM best friend who you not only want but actually need. Founded in 2014, Dunzo operates across 6 cities and offers a 24X7 door-delivery service of essentials and more.
Innov8
Reinventing the Indian startup space
Our UG Interior Design Alumnus Sheel Dwivedi co-founded Innov8 – a premium co-working space – at the young age of 22. Aimed at creating a better work life, the concept employs ergonomic design thinking geared towards helping you network and build meaningful connections and brands. The company, which is now under OYO, is (literally!) home to 400+ businesses spread across 9 cities with more than 20 centers – A shining reflection of Sheel’s entrepreneurial mindset.
CRED
Rewards with every credit card bill payment
Unless you are completely off the grid, by now you have surely come across the sarcastic meets funny CRED commercials during IPL featuring the likes of Anil Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit to Bappi Lahiri (and counting) singing/dancing – all to make you download the app. The second brainchild of Freecharge’s Kunal Shah, the platform offers an array of exclusive rewards every time you pay your credit card bills and is now more than 2 million members strong. No wonder it is one of the official partners for IPL 2020.
Interesting Fact: Did you notice that most of the official sponsors and partners for IPL 2020 are Indian startups? Be it CRED, Dream 11, Unacademy or Paytm.
Artisans of Banjara
Empowering livelihoods
Born out of the idea of love and compassion, ‘Artisans of Banjara’ aims to bridge the gap between local traders of the Banjara Market in Delhi with consumers in the rest of the country. The platform, co-funded by our ingenious alumna Srishti Tehri, works on an online model, enabling artisans to sell their products through it and thereby furnishing them with their only source of income, which they were being deprived of due to the pandemic. Fantastic and thoughtful!
Yellow Messenger
Bringing consumers and enterprises closer
Founded in 2016 and headquartered in India’s tech-capital Bengaluru, Yellow Messenger is the world’s first cognitive engagement cloud, creating rich conversational experiences for customers and employees. Backed with AI, neuro-linguistic and Machine Learning capabilities, this platform handles customer queries entirely without any human intervention. Raising 20 million dollars in April and with clients like Accenture and Spencers, Yellow Messenger has already outperformed itself in the last two quarters. Next Target for Yellow Messenger? Expansion into the US and EU markets.
RAWR Digital Agency
The story teller of your dreams
With the world going digital, brands across the globe are battling for a stronger online presence. Our talented alumna Avvisha M Chaudhary’s digital agency RAWR aids clients in achieving this goal. Be it social media, graphic design, influencer marketing or content creation, RAWR is steadily becoming the go-to agency for all digital related worries. Now you know where new-age brands get their ideas from!
So what do you think these startups and their founders have in common? Their DNA sure seems to have quite a few ‘Innovation’ spirals! Be it a CRED, Innov8 or any other player in the ecosystem, everyone has a streak of madness and whole lot of risk-taking ability – the hallmarks of being a successful startup owner in 2020. And here at Pearl Academy, we are working tirelessly to nurture this entrepreneurial bug in our students across courses. Because we believe that to survive and succeed in the current uncertainty and future, one must think and act like an entrepreneur – be innovative, agile, solution-oriented and future-driven. From access to exclusive masterclasses with top industry experts, state-of-the-art labs, international platforms to live industry projects, our comprehensive ‘learning-by-doing’ approach and disruptive curriculum opens up myriad opportunities for our students. We have also partnered with WeWork labs to provide incubation support to our young entrepreneurs. To add to this, Our School Of New Age Business offers tailor-made business courses like Digital Marketing and Data Analytics, Media and Entertainment Business, Fashion and Lifestyle Business Management and many more to develop innate skill sets in students and catapult them towards meaningful and creative entrepreneurship.
As the world is advancing towards a hyper-dynamic ecosystem, consumer mindsets too are shifting rapidly, giving birth to newer opportunities almost every day. A report by Inc.42 plus suggests that by 2025, the number of startups in India is expected to cross 100K mark, in turn creating more than 3.25 million jobs in the process. Imagine the essential role of the entrepreneur in leading the way to a stabilized economy. Think you have the power and passion to drive a socio-economic change? Come meet us!
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