DECEMBER 20204Every year, December is the month to look back fondly at the year that was. But as we enter the final few days of the toughest year of all our lives, it is time to not just look back and ponder over the year that was but to salute the collective spirit of the world that kept us going even when the times were rough. 2020 has taken us all on a topsy-turvy ride and the Indian startup eco-system was no exception. The third largest eco-system globally after U.S. and China, the Indian startup landscape has had to weather some rough blows through the year, especially during the first two quarters. As the global pandemic set in during the first quarter of 2020, most of us were confined within the four walls of our abodes. While the pandemic sounded a death knell for most offline businesses, the entire action shifted online. As families were compelled to stay together, it was the younger lot that brought the older generation up to speed with digital trends. With people being compelled to stay indoors, reliance on digital avenues for self-reliance saw massive increase. Sectors such as edtech, fintech, healthtech, everyday essentials, gaming, biotech, OTT, IoT etc saw maximum activity with newer players entering the field and existing players sharpening their digital arsenal. Although investor activity remained low for the first half of the year, with the lifting of the lockdown, the vigor amongst investors also came back. According to reports, the Indian startups raised a total disclosed funding of $8.4 billion between January 2020 and mid-November 2020, a 30 percent decline in comparison to the same time period in 2019. Total number of deals also fell 14.5 percent with the eco-system registering 765 deals between January 2020 and November 15, 2020. However, investor sentiment remained positive. This recovery has come as result of the swift intervention undertaken by startups as they resorted to cost optimization and product diversification as short term strategies while they moved focus on deeptech, expansion to new verticals to remain sturdy in the long run. The key to sustaining growth in the time to come will be operational excellence and portfolio diversification. Startups must also undertake a collaborative approach and foster trust based partnerships with other players and customers alike. The landscape will be rewarding for `digital first' models and `make in India' firms. While the eco-system underwent the cyclic motions of boom, bust and exits, Indian startups have proved time and again their capability to persist and return capital to investors. We at StartupCity present to you our special December edition, Startup of the Year 2020. This issue is as ode to these young firms that have mastered the art of adapting to survive. In fact, not only did they survive, they flourished. Remember, the Mantra for startups now is `You Adapt You Survive; You Don't You Perish'.Do let us know your thoughts. Rachita SharmaSpecial EditorYou Adapt You Survive; You Don't You PerishEDITOR'S NOTE Vol 7 · Issue 6 - 6 · December 22, 2020 Publisher Alok Chaturvedi Special Editor Rachita Sharma Editorial Team Aparna Roy Biplab Chakravarty Monica Pallavi J Riya Sethi Sales & Marketing Felish Rita Tapas Mallick Editorial Queries editor@startupcity.com To subscribe Visit www.startupcity.com/subscribe Cover price is Rs. 150 per issue.Printed and Published By Alok Chaturvedi on behalf of Siliconmedia Technologies Pvt Ltd and Printed at Precision Fototype Services at Sri Sabari Shopping Complex, 24 Residency Road Bangalore-560025 and Published At No. 124, 2nd Floor, Surya Chambers, Old Airport Road, Murugeshpalya, Bangalore-560017. Editor Alok ChaturvediCopyright © 2020 SiliconMedia Technologies Pvt Ltd, All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part of any text, photography or illustrations without written permission from the publisher is prohibited. The publisher assumes no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts, photographs or illustrations. Views and opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the magazine and accordingly, no liability is assumed by the publisher.sales@startupcity.comGroup Art Director Ashok KumarCirculation Manager Magendran PerumalVisualisers Mohana Krishnan Siva SankarGM Sales & Marketing Virupakshi Pattarsiliconindia
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