The Entrepreneurial Ecosystem of India
When you hear the word India, is entrepreneurship the first idea that comes to your mind? Maybe not - especially because according to Fortune Magazine, a significant number of investors initially believed that the new Trump administration will impede the growth of globalization, directly impacting startup cultures in growing countries like India. However, contrary to this popular belief, the pursuit of entrepreneurial ventures is mainstream for India’s youth.
The Indus Entrepreneurs and the Indian Angel Network are two of India’s entrepreneurship communities that provide entrepreneurs with initial funding to grow their ideas. President of India’s Angel Network Padmaja Ruparel, which is the largest group of angel investors in the company, said to The Hindu Business Line Magazine, “We are in the platinum age. At least in the start-up ecosystem. I have never seen this kind of activity.”
Fortune Magazine reports that India’s middle class is in luck, as the gradual privatization of India’s banking sector will provide more opportunities for the middle class to invest in their ideas. India’s outperformance of S&P500 in 2017 demonstrates that these investments have paid off, which is why there is a strong belief that India can amplify their economic growth in 2018. According to The Business Times of India, 83% of India’s workforce desires an entrepreneurship career. With 19,000 startups being operated in India, the country’s appeal to this branch of business demonstrates how innovation is being redefined by the expansion of globalization.
One social entrepreneur who has acted as a trailblazer in creating jobs for people living in rural India is Manav Subodh. Subodh is the Cofounder for 1M1B, 1 Million for 1 Billion. This organization provides stability to communities in India and beyond through employment. After working in the corporate sector for seventeen years with companies such as Ernst and Young (EY), Intel, Hughes, and QAI, Subodh believed that he was not making the impact he wanted through his career. This influenced him to establish 1M1B in 2014, with a focus on helping women ages eighteen to twenty-five in the most rural parts of the world.
Indian communities are not only garnering stability through careers, but also through advancement in healthcare. Dr Arvind Badrinarayanan, at only 30 years old, designed a digital stethoscope called Taal to make DNA diagnosis more affordable. Priced at $50, Taal is the world’s most inexpensive stethoscope. This invention is part of MUSEinc, which is a startup in Bengaluru, India. The purpose of Taal is to increase accuracy for medical professionals by showing patients graphical representations of their heart rates.To use Taal, one simply has to place the device on one’s chest. According to chief biotechnology officer Sumukh Mysore, the sounds of one’s heartbeat are separated from ambient noise, clarifying a heartbeat over other internal sounds. Taal’s advantages include its rechargeable battery, its light weight (50g), and its social platform feature that allows and encourages doctors to get second opinions from other professionals on their patients’ heartbeats.
At Princeton University, an institution that values innovation and entrepreneurship, students should be aware of how the world around them is impacted by changes occurring at the forefront of other countries. The addition of the entrepreneurship certificate, first distributed in 2017, is one way in which students can strengthen their understanding of entrepreneurship and how it initiates social forces that positively transform the future.
For extracurricular activities such as Tiger Investment, E-Club, and Princeton Club of India, these organizations can host events about entrepreneurship in India and what that may mean for the global economy. Whether that means bringing in professors from Princeton’s economics department or watching a documentary, the exchange of knowledge between these groups and students who are curious facilitates discussions that concern our future. As far as we know, as globalization leaves it mark on India, India begins to leave its mark on us.The prevalence of entrepreneurship in India isn’t fading away, but rather, it’s just getting started.