India Now New Battleground for Chinese & American Investors

BENGALURU: As the days are passing by Chinese investors are drawing closer to the Indian market. And the profound startups of the Indian hemisphere are welcoming them with open arms.

Abhishek Bansal, founder of hyper-local logistics startup Shadowfax, was in China for a week in November to meet investors and understand how the online-tooffline market had evolved there. "Chinese investors have seen market trends and potential in O2O, so the confidence they show about it is much different as compared to Silicon Valley," said Bansal, 26, who previously worked in China as a consultant for about a year. MakeMyTrip has also follow suit: taking their endeavor to the eastern prominence rather than hitting up private equity funds in the West. Recently, the company announced a $180-million (Rs 1223.1 cr) investment from China's largest online travel firm Ctrip. "We believe MakeMyTrip and Ctrip can help each other to remain leaders in our respective markets by sharing wisdom and perhaps a few battle scars as well-earned along the way," MakeMyTrip's CEO Deep Kalra said on an analyst call on January 29. Given that MakeMyTrip is valued at about $645 million and Ctrip at $15 billion, it is clear who will be the bigger brother in this relationship.

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