Tag: Risers Accelerator

Ed-tech startup industry witnessing the biggest boom in its history: Risers Accelerator
Education, News, Technology

Ed-tech startup industry witnessing the biggest boom in its history: Risers Accelerator

Apr 17, 2021 by Rekha Nair 0 Comments #Director – Finance and Technology, #Rachit Chawla, #Risers Accelerator

New Delhi: According to the findings of a study conducted by Risers Accelerator, a conglomerate of India’s leading entrepreneurs dedicated to supporting the startup industry, the Ed-tech sector is going through the biggest growth period ever since its inception in India. It is being estimated that the Ed-tech market, which currently stands at $2.8 billion is expected to grow 3.7 times in the next five years to reach $10.4 billion by 2025. It is also being estimated that among the Ed-tech sub-sectors, K-12 education startups with $4.3 billion in total market size will have the single highest market share — 41% of the total Ed-tech market in India.

The panel of experts at Risers Accelerator is closely associated with the startup industry and keeps a watchful eye on the growth trajectory of different startup segments. The sudden growth in the Ed-tech sector has shown how technology can revolutionize the education system in the country. While the digitization of education was taking place even before the pandemic struck, the change was taking place slowly. The Covid-19 pandemic, however, seems to have catalyzed technological adoption in schools, colleges, and other academic and non-academic educational institutions.

“At Risers Accelerator, we always keep an eye out for the emerging sectors, and the growth that we’re witnessing in the Ed-tech sector is truly remarkable. While it is true that the current scenario is conducive for the Ed-tech companies – given that the schools and colleges are closed – we mustn’t overlook the hard work the startups have done in this segment to innovate situation-specific solutions. They have not only helped the education system survive the onslaught of the pandemic but have made it better and more resilient against future troubles. It goes show that the future of education is digital and the Ed-tech is only going to grow in the coming times,” said Rachit Chawla, Director – Finance and Technology, Risers Accelerator.

Besides the lockdown that has forced the schools to shut down, another thing that is helping the Ed-tech sector is the growth in internet penetration. The internet penetration in the country – even in remote areas – has gotten better. According to a report published by TRAI, in 2019 alone, the number of internet users grew from 665 million in June to 687 million in September, registering a quarterly growth rate of 3.35%.

The e-learning industry has witnessed tremendous growth during the lockdown and I am certain that it is only going to grow in the post-pandemic phase. Without the power of e-learning, the entire education system would have come to a screeching halt once the lockdown was imposed. We have been in touch with several academic and non-academic institutions and they have decided to continue with Blended Learning (a learning model that combines online and offline learning to get the best results) in the post-pandemic phase,” said Rachit Chawla, Director – Finance and Technology, Risers Accelerator.­

Fintech startups to watchout for 2021, that changed the market dynamics with their innovations
Business World, News

Being Covid-compliant helped Fintech startups to grow during the pandemic: Risers Accelerator

Mar 6, 2021 by Rekha Nair 0 Comments #Director, #Finance and Technology, #NASSCOM, #NBFCs (Non-Banking Financial Companies), #Rachit Chawla, #RBI (Reserve Bank of India), #Risers Accelerator, #WHO (World Health Organization)

New Delhi: According to a study conducted by the expert panel at Risers Accelerator, a conglomerate of India’s top entrepreneurs established to empower startups, fintech startups have performed brilliantly amid the pandemic – a time when most of the sectors suffered quite a bit. The panel at Risers Accelerator noticed that among all the requests it received from startups from different sectors for support, nearly 45% were from fintech startups.

According to a study conducted by NASSCOM in May of 2020, more than 70% of the startups had less than three months of cash runway. It piques one’s curiosity as to how the fintech sector managed to not only survive but grow tremendously amid such unfavorable circumstances.

Several reasons are being cited for this anomaly. Ever since the pandemic hit our shores, the entire country slipped into a financial crisis. Close to 12 crore Indians lost their jobs during the lockdown period and since a majority of our population has nothing in terms of savings, being out of a job meant being out of money. People needed small loans and they needed them to be disbursed quickly.

Since banks have a rather lengthy and often quite strict screening process, many people would have never got the loans. This is where India’s NBFCs (Non-Banking Financial Companies) came into the picture. With a relatively easy screening process, quick disbursals, and overall user-friendly attitude, fintech startups managed to support the population during the tough times.

Another major reason for the sudden upsurge in the fintech sector was a concerted push for contactless systems. People have become quite wary regarding touching the surfaces that may potentially be housing the dreaded Covid-9 strain.

Naturally, paper money changes hand many times over and is, therefore, an agent for transmission. Even WHO (World Health Organization) and RBI (Reserve Bank of India) have encouraged people to use contactless payments and rely more on digital methods. Moreover, fintech companies are also adept at offering digital banking services like e-applications, e-KYC, online approvals, and disbursals, etc. This helps people avoid face-to-face interactions.

Talking about the unexpected upsurge of the fintech sector, Rachit Chawla, Director, Finance and Technology, said, “Even though most of the sectors have suffered during the pandemic, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the fintech sector has done better than the rest. While it hasn’t been Covid-resistant, it has been Covid-compliant”. Mr. Pravin Khandelwal, Director, Leadership & Motivation at Risers Accelerator further adds, “By leveraging the latest technologies that have been looming on the horizon, the sector has managed to offset the negative effects of the pandemic and has made banking and finance easier than ever. At Risers Accelerator, we are delighted to have received so many requests for support from fintech startups, and as always, we will do our best to ensure that they realize their full potential.”

Business World

Focus on environmental, social, and governance grounds to reap investment benefits post-pandemic: Risers Accelerator

Jan 23, 2021 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #Director – Finance and Technology, #Rachit Chawla, #Risers Accelerator

New Delhi: Risers Accelerator, a conglomerate of India’s top entrepreneurs and investors dedicated to empowering innovative startups, predicts that investing on environmental, social and governance grounds can turn out to be a profitable maneuver in the post-Covid era, as the government policies seem to favor the same.

India is already the world’s third-largest producer of renewable energy and has plans to have 40% of its total energy needs met from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030. Environment-friendly initiatives will receive full support from the government and will have a relatively easier time scaling the ladder of success. Naturally, the investors who spot this trend and invest in “green” startups will also be able to reap significant profits in the near future.

The renewable energy market has grown rapidly in India over the past 4 years, posting a robust CAGR of 17.33% between 2016 to 2020. According to www.ibef.org, the Indian renewable energy market will attract investment worth $80 billion in the coming 4 years. This means there is a myriad of opportunities for both the investors and the startups in the renewable energy segment.

The e-vehicle segment – especially – is getting a lot of attention, with companies like Tesla launching premium e-vehicle models. While those models aren’t in the affordable range yet, they’ve proven that the limitations that were attributed to e-vehicles can be overcome with innovation. They’ve also inspired other players in the industry – big and small – to venture into the segment and make the most of the opportunities. Experts are betting that the stocks in the electric vehicle supply chain will skyrocket in the near future as the world becomes more environmentally conscious and people grow averse to using fossil fuel based vehicles that cause environmental pollution.

The Covid-19 pandemic has proven to be a wake-up call for humanity and has opened its eyes to the damage it has been doing to the environment. It isn’t just India but the entire world that has sprung into action. Industrial countries in Asia, like China, Japan, and Korea have all vowed to become carbon-neutral this century and are pushing out initiatives for the same. In an era of globalization, this is a great opportunity for all the investors worldwide,” said Rachit Chawla, Director – Finance and Technology, Risers Accelerator.

Along with the renewable energy segment, EdTech is another prominent sector that will witness significant growth in the coming years. Given the rapid transition to online learning platforms that was forced upon us by the pandemic, it is being estimated that the EdTech sector will grow from $2.8 billion in 2020 to $10.4 billion by 2025. There are over 4500 active EdTech startups in the country and more than 500 were added in the last 24 months alone. The opportunities in this sector are plenty and those who enter it early will stand to gain the most. As an active investor and startup mentorship organization, we would advise both the investors and the entrepreneurs to venture into these domains. It always makes more sense to swim with the current rather than against it,” he further added.