The report highlights the preference for biometric authentication, with over 95% of female customers opting for AePS for cash withdrawal. While cash remains the favored mode of transaction, with 48% of women favoring it, Aadhaar-led transactions and UPI QR codes are gaining momentum in double digits. Cards continue to have a minimal presence in this segment. Notably, women aged 18-30, followed by 31-40, are the most digitally adept, showing a strong inclination towards financial transactions. Interestingly, 41% of women mentioned that they do not use any payment app on their phones.

Cash withdrawal, mobile recharges, and bill payments emerge as the top three services availed by women at PayNearby retail outlets. The most common withdrawal range falls between ₹1000-2500, while EMI payments typically range from ₹500-1000. The report reveals that 70% of women hold Jan-Dhan savings accounts primarily used for cash withdrawals. More than 25% of women admitted to their husbands managing their bank accounts instead of themselves.

Among the top three saving goals, ‘child education’ topped the list, followed by ‘medical emergency’ and ‘buying household electronic items’. 54% of women indicated ₹750-1000 as their preferred range for monthly savings, highlighting their approach towards financial planning. Notably, only 27% of the respondents preferred to save above ₹1500 to accrue a corpus in the long run. 71% of women exhibited a higher inclination towards short-term investments, with savings tenure between 3-5 years. The report observes a marginal but noteworthy trend towards investment diversification, particularly in recurring and fixed goal-based deposits. This suggests an increasing awareness among women regarding alternative investment avenues, reflecting a growing interest in financial management and wealth creation.

Interestingly, 74% of women rely on their family members when making investment decisions, whereas 11% seek guidance from financial advisors. The financial advisors were typically women influences in their affinity. The survey also revealed that 16% of women were extremely aware, and 55% were moderately aware of various government schemes and initiatives related to financial well-being. Impressively, 45% of women report availing benefits from government-backed initiatives indicating a growing number of women availing these schemes.

Despite growing awareness of insurance products among women (29%), consumption remains low at 2%. 45% of women report benefiting from government-backed schemes. The survey indicates a willingness among 68% of women to take formal credit, emphasizing the need for affordable credit solutions. Women cited emergency expenses like medical bills, home repairs, and children’s education or for agricultural needs such as buying seeds, fertilizers, or equipment as reasons to avail credit.

The PWFI report also highlights the increasing adoption of online commerce (24%) and online entertainment (18%) among women. Online commerce saw a decent adoption among women at retail stores with daily groceries & household items (at 27%) being the most commonly ordered category. This was followed by clothing & accessories and home & kitchen items at 24% and 23%, respectively. It ratifies the fact that women at the last mile are aspirational and validates the latent demand for such services among them. Travel bookings and PAN card issuance have seen significant uptake, with 96% of the respondents showed a willingness to book a rail ticket from their nearby store. This showcases women’s desire to become self-reliant and financially included.

Anand Kumar Bajaj, Founder, MD & CEO, PayNearby, said, “It is delightful to see that women in Bharat are asserting their entrepreneurial spirit more than ever with over 63% seeking avenues for income augmentation. In the journey towards a nation’s development, women should be equal stakeholders. At PayNearby, we recognize women as the GDP reserve of our nation, wielding the power to drive social and economic change. As an institution, we are aligned with the government’s shift from women development to women-led development.”

“The increasing adoption of newer services such as e-commerce, mutual funds, and fixed deposits signifies a promising trend in rural areas, where women are gearing up to engage in formal economic activities. We aim to empower women with greater autonomy over their savings, investments, and other crucial aspects. Sashakt Naari, Sashakt Desh,” Bajaj added.

Jayatri Dasgupta, CMO, PayNearby, said, “Bharat stands on the threshold of a profound digital transformation. Yet, to fully unlock its potential, we must equip our women with the tools necessary to integrate seamlessly into this rapidly evolving digital landscape. With the launch of our fourth edition of PWFI, we undertake a comprehensive assessment of our progress and chalk out the roadmap to make women equal participants in Bharat’s growth journey.”

With our recently launched Digital Naari initiative, we are providing additional income opportunities for women at the last mile, enabling them to provide financial and digital access to their communities at their convenience of time, location (from home/store), and product preferences. Our aim is to create a women-led development that breaks down technological and financial barriers and creates a more equitable society”, Dasgupta added.

The post Over 63% women in India pursue entrepreneurial avenues: survey appeared first on Startagist.

Speaking at the summit, Amit Mookim, President- TiE Mumbai said, “30 % of the 100 Unicorns we have in India have been native to Mumbai. This is what we are celebrating at the Summit today. We are raising a toast to our dynamic founders, country and gorgeous Mumbai which has contributed to make India, a true Unicorn nation. We are saluting and encouraging the founders of soonicorns, who would be joining the boom in the near future.”

India has reached a landmark figure of 100 unicorns with a valuation of more than $300 billion. India has 3rd Largest ecosystem with the greatest number of unicorns. TiEcon Mumbai was to collate and showcase the journey of stellar Unicorns from inception to listing and to understand the catalyst for such a boom in unicorns.

Smt Manisha Verma, Principal Secretary- Dept. Of Skills, Employment, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Govt. of Maharashtra shared various new initiatives for the promotion of startups and entrepreneurship in the state. She encouraged startups to reach out to the government with their policy suggestions for sustainability through the Innovation Society.  She said, “Our focus is to create a pool of skilled, talented and vibrant workforce for start-ups. Maharashtra Govt is open for entrepreneurship and gives direct work orders to startups. Innovation Society is the nodal agency to support start up and develop sustainable eco system in the state of Maharashtra. They run multiple schemes to support start-ups financially and help them with patents and product testing.”

Apoorva Sharma, President & Co- Founder- Venture Catalysts & 9Unicorns and winner of Outstanding Startup Ecosystem Builder at TiEcon Mumbai Hall of Fame awards said, “Kudos to TiE Mumbai for organising the biggest post pandemic startup event by bringing 25 Unicorns together under one roof. The Founders spoke about their journey, struggles, achievements and hustles that would fuel the Unicorn dreams of several other startups. It was also an immense moment of pride for us to have received the award from Mr. *Harsh Mariwala*, Founder and Chairman of Marico.”

Some key takeaways for the conference were that there has been an unprecedented digital surge accelerated by COVID. The ecosystem has had 100 unicorns and 302 soonicorns during this period. There are 25+ unicorns with potential of entering BSE top 100 companies by market capital. There has been a 10x growth in start-ups and about $116 B funding in last 10 years. Further, Green sector and Metaverse are pitted to be the building pillars of Future. The goal of Net zero by 2050 requires fundamental transformation of the global economy and new investment paradigm. An important learning was the fact that valuation is not in our control, value creation is. Focus on innovation is the key.

The Indian Unicorns are flourishing in the fast-paced and dynamic economy. They are generating large-scale employment along with innovative solutions.  India is uniquely positioned in Global Unicorn Landscape, and this is a testament to the vibrant ecosystem present in India. The rapid evolution of internet infrastructure, easy distribution combined with capital accessibility provides the ‘ *Big Opportunity* ‘.

Some Unicorn Startups and speakers who participated in the event were InMobi – Naveen Tewari, CarTrade.com – Vinay Sanghi, OfBusiness – Asish Mohapatra, Morgan Stanley -Kamal Yadav, OYO -Ritesh Agarwal, The Good Glamm Group – Darpan Sanghvi, NoBroker.com – Amit Kumar Agarwal, Sales Force India – Arundhati Bhattacharya, WebEngage -Avlesh Singh, Udaan -Sujeet Kumar, Fractal.ai – Srikanth Velamakanni, Microsoft India -Anant Maheshwari, Dream11- Harsh Jain, PharmEasy – Siddharth Shah, CitiusTech – Rizwan Koita, People Group(shaadi.com) – Anupam Mittal and BookMyShow- Ashish Hemrajani.

TiEcon Mumbai 2022 also comprised of 140+ specifically curated startups expo which showcased their products to demonstrate innovation in India. There were power packed international panel discussions, insightful workshops, masterclasses on building high and growth products. They were VCs laying bare the math they swear by. The Summit provided an important platform for collaboration and engagement. The summit had diverse set of experts, speakers and high level of participation. It was rich in content and valuable in creating the better understanding. A comprehensive report of India’s Investment Ecosystem was launched at the summit. We are gradually transitioning from the age of unicorns to the age of decacorns.

The post TiEcon Mumbai 2022 – India’s Largest Unicorn Summit, brilliantly showcased the strengths, wisdom and expertise of Top Unicorns appeared first on Startagist.

·         Nearly 45 per cent of entrepreneurs in India explored new business opportunities

·         22.5 per cent of entrepreneurs expanded into online trading during the pandemic

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Survey is the largest annual study of entrepreneurial dynamics in the world. Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII), Ahmedabad leads the GEM India Survey with Dr. Sunil Shukla, Director General, EDII as the National Team Leader and the Lead Author of the Report.

The GEM India 2020-21 report which was released recently, explains the key aspects of entrepreneurship among Indians by measuring their attitudes, activities and aspirations. The findings of the report provide the policy makers a foundation for reviewing the current and prospective policies. The major findings and recommendations for policy making are appropriately highlighted. The report has used a sample survey of 3,317 adults and national Level Experts.

The nationwide survey on entrepreneurial dynamics carried out by the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII) provides that 82 per cent of the population believes that there is a good opportunity to start a business in their area despite the hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Report 2020-21 also provides that 82 per cent of youngsters believe that they have the required skills and knowledge to start a business. Out of 47 economies, India ranks 3^rd for perceived opportunities.

The report also provides insights into the impact of the pandemic on the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the country.  It provides that the fear of failure among youth has increased by 1 per cent, i.e. from 56 % in 2019-20 to 57 per cent in 2020-21. It also suggests that entrepreneurial intentions have declined from 33.3 per cent in 2019-20 to 20.31 per cent in 2020-21.

Similarly, total early-stage entrepreneurial activity (TEA) was also severely affected due to the pandemic and declined to 5.34 per cent in 2020-21 compared to 15 per cent in the previous year. Notably, TEA is the total percentage of individuals in the 18-64 age group who are either nascent entrepreneur or owners/managers of new businesses.

Also, the findings reveal that pandemic has negatively impacted total entrepreneurial activities in the country. However, it is more severe in case of the young women. Female entrepreneurial activities declined by 79 per cent, whereas male entrepreneurial activities declined by 53 per cent. , The report also indicates that the pandemic had a negative impact on household income. In India, about 44 per cent of youth were of the view that the pandemic affected their household income.

The report also provides some key policy suggestions that would sustain and promote the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the country. The suggestions include entrepreneurship education at school and college levels, greater support from the government, research and policy advocacy in the field of entrepreneurship, and the creation of a pool of business mentors.

Team leader of GEM India and Director General of EDII, Dr Sunil Shukla, said, “Entrepreneurship has become a key factor for sustainable economic growth and has huge potential to create employment opportunities. Developing an entrepreneurial mindset within the country has become a primary objective for governments and societies worldwide. In the Indian context and given its socio-economic challenges as well as its size and scope, a holistic approach to entrepreneurship development can bring transformational changes to the socio-economic landscape of the country.”

GEM India member and EDII faculty, Dr Amit Dwivedi, opines, “The GEM India Report 2020-21 provides data analysis that can help academicians, researchers, policymakers, and professionals, to take appropriate action for enhancing economic growth, with a focus on broad-based entrepreneurship development.”

GEM India member and EDII faculty, Dr Pankaj Bharti, believes that the pandemic has negatively affected business and entrepreneurship in most countries, including India, with the  enabling factors in the country dropping as compared to last year. However, he emphasizes, not all the factors have been affected adversely. 

Major Findings of GEM India 2020-21 Report

• The results show that 82% of the population perceives that there is a good opportunity to start a business in their area. Of the 47 economies, India ranked 3^rd for perceived opportunities.
• About 82% of the youth believe that they possess the skills and knowledge to start a business.
• Entrepreneurial intentions had been 33.3% in 2019–20, which fell to 20.31% in 2020–21. This negative change of perception may be due to the lockdown and impact of the COVID 19 Pandemic.
• The rate of Total Early-stage Entrepreneurship Activity (TEA) in India has also been severely affected by the pandemic and it came down to 5.34% from last year’s 15%.  The change has been observed at 64 percent, decreased from 15 percent in 2019-20.
• The findings reveal that pandemic has negatively impacted Total Entrepreneurial Activities in the country. However, it is more severe in case of the female youth. Female entrepreneurial activities are decreased by 79 percent, while the male entrepreneurial activities are decreased by 53 percent.
• The observation for established business ownership is important and it is found that 5.88% of youth have reported that they are engaged in an established business. The numbers decreased by 51 percent from last year’s 11.92%.
• The results presented in the report, indicate that pandemic has a very negative impact on household income. In India, about 44 percent of youth have perceived that pandemic has harmed their household income.
• Across a couple of the government-related framework conditions, India did better in 2020, then it did in 2019. This improvement in institutional support for entrepreneurship is reflected in the experts’ assessment of the government’s response to the pandemic, where, India ranked 5^th among all GEM participating economies.
• The National Entrepreneurship Context Index (GEM NECI), provides policymakers with insights, on how to foster such an environment. In its latest ranking, Indonesia, Netherlands, Taiwan and India are the top four.

The post EDII leads the largest study on entrepreneurial dynamics appeared first on Startagist.

He can’t be more true. Perseverance is key. Especially in these trying times amid Covid-19 and lockdown in the country and around the world. As we celebrate world entrepreneurs’ day this particularly should apply to young and upcoming entrepreneurs and most of them showed that they do have the determination to stay in the present and overcome these obstacles.

Keeping this in mind and celebrating World Entrepreneurs’ Day on August 21, Wadhwani Foundation, a not-for-profit salutes the startups and entrepreneurs hit badly by the COVID-19 related business slump and the National lockdown.

Wadhwani Foundation is working with a mission of accelerating economic development in emerging economies by driving large-scale job creation through entrepreneurship, innovation, and skills development.

The Foundation gives guidance on how startups should ensure liquidity and slow-down the burn rate while diligently planning for an 18-month runway. 

It strongly recommends that startups should not waste the crisis, as it provides an unprecedented opportunity to pivot to new businesses and diversify into growth verticals like healthcare, emerging tech, online education, grocery delivery, and e-pharmacies.

On this occasion, Dr. Ajay Kela, President, and CEO, Wadhwani Foundation, advised startups and entrepreneurs saying, “The COVID-19 disruption has created a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for entrepreneurs and startups. Behavioral changes of doctors and patients, teachers and students, retailers and consumers, companies and employees, policy evangelists and policymakers, etc., which would have taken years, have changed overnight and will become the new normal.”

He added that “New entrepreneurs should build solutions that align with these new behaviors, and existing entrepreneurs have the advantage of having started the journey to pivot quickly. Data suggests that the best time to start a company is during a crisis. This pandemic is the mother of all crises, hence, also offers the mother of all opportunities.  Please don’t waste the crisis, start something new or pivot to the new norm, and I wish you the very best.”

Wadhwani Foundation was founded in 2000 by Dr. Romesh Wadhwani, with the primary mission of accelerating job creation in India and other emerging economies through large-scale initiatives in entrepreneurship, small business growth, innovation, and skilling. The Wadhwani Foundation works in partnership with governments, foundations, corporations, and educational institutes.

In the view of this pandemic, many sectors except a few will suffer due to low demand and consumer interest. So, this should be the time for startup entrepreneurs to preserve cash, get nimble, be ready to pivot to meet new customer needs through change and innovation, and not hesitate to seek help.

The post World Entrepreneurs’ Day: Wadhwani Foundation salutes the entrepreneurial spirit appeared first on Startagist.