Why are European Union startup investors suddenly interested in young Indian entrerpreneurs, particularly those based in IT hub, Bengaluru? Thursday’s Startup EU-India Summit here offered a clue: US-returned Indians, combining their rich Silicon Valley experience with innovation to break into a multi-cultural, multi-lingual market that echoes Europe.
Beyond the American link, the domestic startup ecosystem had another key pulling power: The emergence of a critical mass of young startup founders with pathbreaking disruptive ideas. A panelist, Francisco Velazuez de Cuellar from Axon Partners Group, articulated it aptly when he said, “There is more innovation happening in India than anywhere else in the world.”
For panelist Ted Persson, commonalities in multi-culturalism between EU and India offered huge opportunities for cross-border investments. The markets, he noted, are easier to understand. “Opportunities exist in e-commerce, energy, B2B, consumer startups and many more. Indian startups could benefit from the multiple hubs in EU and the many centres of excellence there.”
But Europe’s equation with India goes beyond pluralities. As Martina Drahasova, a business developer from Slovakia, pointed out, the startup ecosystem of East Europe started evolving only five years ago, about the same time India and Bengaluru hit global headlines. “Slovakia, an East European nation had no entrepreneurs till 1989. But in the last five years, there has been a startup boom there,” said Drahasova.
If Indian startups are now getting global recognition, what stopped EU-India collaborations till now? Venture capitalist Hans de Back attributed it to plain lack of awareness. “There is a lot of co-investment potential. But the mindset so far has been to expand to the US or South East Asia. There is not much understanding about Europe’s potential in Indian boardrooms as well,” opined Hans de Back.
So, what will drive EU’s foray into the Indian startup space? Financial technology companies, Hans was sure. “The critical infrastructure for Fintech in now taking shape in India. There is nothing comparable to the Aadhaar initiative globally. The mobile-driven growth, emergence of e-signatures and other banking systems have huge potential.”
From the Indian side, panelist Gaurav Mehra’s advice to local startups was straightforward and frank: Think global to attract global investors. If the focus is about doing things only in India, you will not get anywhere.