The role of technology in start-ups

The role of technology in the mushrooming of start-ups cannot be understated. Entrepreneurs across India are leveraging technology to build products and services for both domestic and global markets. “Earlier, companies like Infosys, Wipro or TCS used technology to build solutions to solve problems in other countries,” says Gururaj ‘Desh’ Deshpande, Indian-American venture capitalist who co-chairs Barack Obama’s National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship. “The next wave of companies will use talent and technology to solve problems in India.” He feels that every problem is an opportunity for a new company. “The opportunities in India are huge for people who want to be entrepreneurial,” he adds. 

India is capital scarce, and technology helps a business run more efficiently. It’s already happening — for instance, several start-ups in education and healthcare are using the cloud to deliver products and services without investing in physical infrastructure. In another example, Red Bus saw the big opportunity in the $2.5-billion bus travel market and leveraged technology to set up its online ticketing platform — the company now has over 700 bus operators on board and recently sold over a million tickets, clocking revenues of Rs.300 crore in FY12 to make it one of the most transacted sites in India.

The ability to sell online opened up a limitless opportunity for Druva, the data backup service provider. “Initially, most of our customers were from the US,” says Jaspreet Singh, CEO, Druva Software. “We realised that there was a huge market for our products, when customers in the US were willing to buy from an unknown start-up from a different part of the world. Being able to sell our products online gave us a reach that was beyond our imagination.” Druva hopes to clock revenues of over $50 million by 2014-15, around which time it may take an IPO to the market.