Indian start-ups that went global!
India has done exceptionally well in the start-up area, with several entrepreneurs finding success in the worldwide market. After thriving in their own country for many years, several Indian companies chose to go global and build a name for themselves on a worldwide scale.
Startups and unicorns have been in terms for a few years now, and it goes without saying that this decade has undoubtedly been the decade of startups. We’ve watched the birth and demise of several companies all across the world. The same may be said about India.
Evolution of startups in India:
Before we go into how India became a startup hotspot, let’s define what a startup is. A startup is a venture or a firm that is formed in order to give solutions to previously unanswered problems or to improve on current ones.
Before delving into how India came to be known as a startup hotspot, it’s important to understand what a startup is. A startup is a business or initiative that is formed in order to solve issues that have never been addressed previously, or to improve on existing ones.
- Talent pool
- Cost of setting up the business
- Government boost
- Increasing use of the internet
- Increase in investments and funding options
Some of the startups that have made it to the international market and are still growing:
1) Ola cabs:
Countries Ola operates in India, the UK, Australia and New Zealand.
Ola Cabs, which was launched on December 3, 2010, in Mumbai by Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati, is now headquartered in Bangalore. Ola provided rickshaw transportation in both India and, as of March 2019, the United Kingdom to meet the demands of their Indian clientele. Ola was estimated at $6.5 billion in October 2019, declaring it a unicorn startup.
FoodPanda was purchased by Ola in December 2017. Foodpanda was suffering at the time, and Ola was eager to expand its services to include food delivery as well. Ola’s second purchase was Ridlr (previously Traffline), a public transportation ticketing service, in April 2018. Vogo, a scooter rental company, received Series A financing from Ola in August 2018.
Services in other nations are quite identical to these. Ola has achieved global acclaim for its outstanding services. Ola continues to expand and bring new alternatives on a regular basis, demonstrating that they are constantly striving to improve.
2) Zomato:
Countries Zomato operates in: India, UAE, Sri Lanka, Qatar, The United Kingdom, Philippines, South Africa, New Zealand, Turkey, Brazil, Indonesia, Portugal, Canada, Lebanon, Ireland, United States, Australia and many more.
Deepinder Goyal and Pankaj Chaddah launched Zomato, an online meal delivery business. It was initially released in July of 2008. Its success story is extremely extraordinary, with over 5000 employees worldwide. Zomato was once known as Foodiebay before being renamed Zomato. Their adventure began when they learned how difficult it was for employees to order food. They saved time by uploading the restaurant menus online. However, these menus were only visible to the office personnel at first, but they eventually made them available to everyone online.
Zomato, the online meal delivery service, launched its worldwide presence in Dubai in 2012. Since then, the firm has risen to prominence in over 23 nations.
3) Cleartrip:
Countries Cleartrip operates in: India, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and UAE.>
Hrush Bhatt, Matthew Spacie, and Stuart Crighton established Cleartrip. Cleartrip, which has offices in Mumbai and Dubai, is a global online travel firm that offers services such as flight and train tickets, lodging, and holiday programs. It was formed in response to India’s weak travel sector, with the goal of making travel and tourism simple and straightforward.
Cleartrip, India’s second-biggest online travel agency, expanded internationally in 2012, beginning services in the UAE. Since then, the firm has come a long way, and it now controls more than 60% of the UAE ticketing industry. According to the company, Cleartrip’s development in the Middle East has proven to be highly successful.
4) OYO:
Countries OYO operates in: India, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, UK, UAE
Ritesh Agarwal launched this unicorn business, which has formed its own personality and encouraged many young entrepreneurs. OYO is a hotel room and home service business that was created in 2013 in Gurgaon. Many people select it because of the cheaply cost hotel accommodations. Ritesh Agarwal created Oravel Stays in 2012, and it was rebranded as OYO in 2013.
Oyo, a highly popular hotel room booking platform, expanded into Nepal and Malaysia. In June 2019, the firm also began operations in China. The firm claims to have opened a thousand hotels throughout China’s 28 provinces.
5) Bira:
Countries Bira operates in: India, USA, UK, Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, and UAE.
Ankur Jain founded the company by importing artisan beers from breweries in Brooklyn, New York. Bira91, a contemporary beer brand, has become one of the fastest-growing global beers in just three years.
Founder Ankur wishes to stay in the beer business and keep his consumers happy while keeping consumer interest and needs in mind. Bira91’s motto is “Imagined in India,” and the company aspires to be a worldwide leader.
Bira, which debuted in 2015, quickly became India’s favourite artisan beer. While the firm is operating in the United States, it has also grown to Singapore and Nepal, with over $77 million in the capital.
6) Byjus:
Countries Byjus operates in: The Middle East, UK, South Africa, the US
Byju’s is an online learning firm and an ed-tech revolution, founded and led by Byju Raveendran. He earned flawless scores on all of the exams he took for admission to the Management Graduate Program at one of India’s most famous business colleges, but he never enrolled. He resolved to educate his friends, therefore he created Byju’s, a learning program, later that year. Byju’s is well-known worldwide and will continue to grow in the future.
With technology evolving at such a rapid speed, it would inevitably lead to the establishment of more startups in the country, and many individuals would be inspired as a result of the many government programs. So, for the time being, the path for startups appears to be headed in the right direction.