‘Local economy will dominate the future’
Vani Kola, MD, Kalaari Capital, says India needs to explore the deep-tech sectorEntertainment and education sectors will give rise to social vernacular platforms, Kola adds
PremiumBENGALURU : Serial entrepreneur and venture capitalist Vani Kola said the covid-19 pandemic has provided an opportunity for Indian startups to start focusing on the local economy. “Local will dominate on every level. And the next few decades of growth will move more towards the local economy, which will provide opportunity for entrepreneurs," said Kola, managing director, Kalaari Capital.
She added that the entertainment and education sectors going online will give rise to vernacular platforms. “With entertainment and education moving online, we can see social vernacular being a big play. We had not thought much about vernacular but it is crucial as we see the next 300-400 million come online," she said.
In pre-covid days not much thought was given to security products and businesses being vulnerable to cyber-hacking, but with work-from-home becoming the new reality, that is going to change, she said. “Entrepreneurs need to see where the tail winds are and need to drill into a sector and tackle a problem they understand, and want to solve… For instance, one needs to think about the gig economy. The Indian ecosystem will see some great companies emerge in 12-24 months from the pandemic."
Kola was in a conversation with Deep Kalra, founder and group executive chairman, MakeMyTrip, on the second day of the Global Fintech Festival 2020 virtual event.
She said it was opportunities galore for internet companies, and one such sector is deep tech, where Indian firms have not made a mark yet.
“There is a big opportunity for India in the deep tech space and we have seen global behemoths make acquisitions in the past in this segment… Companies which gobble funding and throw minimum profits are not worth it for a venture capitalist. Hence, these segments should be looked at," said Kola. “At Kalaari, we anticipated 4G to come earlier and supported businesses which were building for the tail wind. However, some of those companies don’t exist anymore. Hence, it is important for entrepreneurs to do their research and see where the tail winds are heading and tap on and build on it," she added.
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