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India is an incredibly unique environment for startups and entrepreneurship in general. First, China is a major factor in the funding and control of many Indian startups. In 2015, Alibaba invested in Paytm through its affiliate Ant Financial. In 2017, Tencent took major stakes in Flipkart and Ola.
Japan is also a serious provider of funding in India. Japanese giant Softbank has invested over $8B in startups in the country, with a goal of $10B by 2024 that now looks surprisingly conservative.
India’s startup environment also has a major dichotomy between highly funded companies and those struggling to raise capital.
Although the definition of the “Indian middle class” is contentious among researchers, the growth of technology, consumer luxuries, and quality of life is not up for debate. Just one quick stat to show how fast things are changing: There are more than 450 million smartphone users in India today, vs. just 86 million five years ago.
The coming year 2019 will be a good year for the startup ecosystem in India. With a large number of target audience available, the markets are open to a variety of ideas. With government initiatives like Startup India funding over 129 startups till date and foreign investments freely flowing in the country leading to the rise of capital reserve of our country, the Top startups in India were able to acquire a frontline in the market. The emergence of new ideas in various sectors has brought about phenomenal changes in the varieties of products and services available in the market.
WE HAVE CURATED A LIST OF THE TOP STARTUPS IN INDIA, WHICH MADE HEADLINES:
AISLE
Founder - Able Joseph
This matchmaking/dating app puts the target on ‘romance over flings’. They connect people who are willing to date worldwide with other eligible people who are willing to step in a meaningful relationship.
AYE FINANCE
Founders - Sanjay Sharma, Vikram Jetley
This new age financing startup provides a solution to small enterprises by giving them business loans and other financial services. Their innovative methods and customer-friendly ways make them a strong contender in the field. The startup, recently raised Rs 147 crore with CapitalG, Alphabet’s growth-stage investment arm leading the funding round.
BOMBAY SHAVING COMPANY
Founders - Shantanu Deshpande, Deepu Panicker, Raunak Munot
Bombay Shaving Company provides a guide to men’s grooming, lifestyle and beyond. They give inspiring lifestyle choices, grooming tips and ideas that make everyday experiences better.
CARMESI
Founders - Rikshav Bohra, Tanvi Johri
The concern for the environment here is combined with the concern for hassle-free menstruation for women. Carmesi makes biodegradable sanitary pads which are soft, thin and rash free. This creates a winning situation for the company!
CASHE
Founder - V. Raman Kumar
CASHe is a financial technology (fintech) app that offers short-term loans, up to Rs 50,000. Quick personal loans from CASHe is a relief especially at the most urgent times. CASHe brings joy to our customers plus provides loyalty perks.
CASHFREE
Founders - Reeju Datta, Akash Sinha
Cashfree, an online payment toolkit, brings an easy way for online payments. It is a viable and accessible option to collect and give payments to businesses with simple gateways with features like auto collect. Cashfree processes a large number of payments every month and is a very successful startup!
CLEARDEKHO
Founders - Saurabh Dayal, Shivi Singh
Stepping into the online retail business, ClearDekho provides eyewear on a budget. Their quality products with various designs and affordable rates make them one of the fastest growing optical retail chains. They also secured a Rs.2 crore funding from Venture Catalysts recently.
COOLBERG
Founder - Pankaj Aswani
Coolberg, a Mumbai based startup, works with a unique idea of having a non-alcoholic beer. Coolberg makes the parties and gatherings easier for people who feel odd during such occasions with a wide range of flavours.
CROFARM
Founders - Prashant Jain, Varun Khurana
Crofarm is an agritech startup that offers a digitised supply chain for agricultural products by bringing farmers and retailers on a common platform. It is a perfect blend of state of the art technology and actual field work dedicated for uplifting the Indian farmers at an immediate level and society from a broader perspective.
DHARMATIC
Founder - Apoorva Mehta and Karan Johar
It is a newly launched digital entertainment startup in India. Dharmatic is an extension of Dharma’s promise of rich and quality content in the digital space, i.e. it exclusively creates fiction, non-fiction and feature films for digital platforms, thereby becoming a promising startup.
ET MEDIALABS
Founders - Raghav Kansal, Rajeev Garg
Digital media analytics are made simple by ET Medialabs for startups with their data-driven insights and advertisement. They remove the need for manpower in the analytics and technology by using intelligent algorithms.
FREIGHTWALLA
Founder - Sanjay Bhatia, Bharat Thanvi, Punit Java
This e-commerce Startup works upon the supply chain as an international forwarder with online tools. This online service is cost efficient and transparent that enables such management with ease.
KISSHT
Founder - Krishnan Viswanathan
Providing instant approvals on shopping on EMI without a credit card, Kissht gives easy access and a trouble-free experience to its customers. The easy-to-use app and its tie-up with various brands make it even more attractive to use.
LOADSHARE
Founders - Pramod Nair, Raghuram Talluri, Rakib Ahmed, Tanmoy Karmakar
This logistics based startup has recently got a $5m funding led by Stellaris to expand its base and operations. Loadshare provides industry solutions to SMEs like last mile, first mile deliveries, e-commerce forward deliveries etc.
LUCIDEUS
Founders - Saket Modi, Rahul Tyagi, Vidit Baxi
Lucideus is a cybersecurity platform which also provides ethical hacking courses and certification. Their software works in real time for the digital security of data with an AI and ML backed platform.
ONN BIKES
Founders - Namit Jain, Shanky Munoth
This startup provides One of the most affordable bike rental services, ONN Bikes allows the customers to rent a bike for self-ride. With flexible services and perks like a free helmet, ONN Bikes is one of the best ideas which took flight this year.
ROOTER SPORTS TECHNOLOGIES
Founders- Piyush Kumar, Akshat Goel
With 15 Million+ active user minutes per month, 2.1 Million+ sports fan connected and eight sports covered, Rooter Sports Technologies is one of the most successful sports engagement apps. Rooter raised Rs.4.5 crore from a number of investors and had acquired a global reach.
SAMOSA LABS
Founders- Inumella, Abhimanyu Pamuapati, Rahul Reddy Koora
With big names like Xiaomi and Sequoia investing in it, this startup is an entertainment-based app. It provides free videos and chat entertainment as a part of the daily lives of the people.
SENIORITY
Founders- Ayush Agrawal, Tapan Mishra
Seniority is India’s first dedicated shopping destination for senior citizens. Through a portfolio of thousands of products, we cater to both medical & lifestyle related needs of the elderly aiming to make their life easier and more independent..
SENSIBULL
Founders- Abid Hassan, Abhimanyu Balajee, Sudeep
Receiving an investment of Rs.2.5 crore from Zerodha, Sensibull is an online stock trading startup. With nifty trade options, nifty bank options, stock options, currency options etc., Sensibull became the first option trading platform in India. Their services like webinars, articles and blogs on how to trade make this startup highly innovative and unique.
SHAADISAGA
Founders- Himanshu Kapisme, Manish Garg
In the times where weddings have become complex affairs with a number of different elements involved, wedding planners like ShaadiSaga have come to the rescue. Making things easier for the family, they provide various options on all the details involved in the wedding according to personal needs.
SHOP101
Founders- Abhinav Jain, Aditya Gupta
With 3 lakh+ sellers, Shop101 is one of the biggest online platforms with selling and reselling services. Their 0 commission rate makes it one of the popular choices and secures it a place among the top startups in India!
TAPCHIEF
Founders- Shashank Murali, Arjun Krishna Vasisht, Binay Krishna Shivam
TapChief is a platform that offers networking opportunities for people to share ideas and connect with professionals of their field. This innovative idea has made it possible to access expert advice with ease. With 60,000 professionals onboard, TapChief has become a powerful way to network for consultants and freelancers.
THE LALLANTOP
Editor- Saurabh Dwiwedi
The Lallantop is a news website, which covers various topics including politics, sports, entertainment and much more in Hindi. They brought about an innovative change in the presentation of news by using satire and humour, which makes them stand out.
THE MAN COMPANY
Founders- Bhisham Bhateja, Mohit Saxena, Parvesh Bareja
SLS and paraben free, The Man Company offers grooming products for males. The products are enriched with natural essential oils which not only make them a compelling product to buy but also a great gift for your loved ones!
