3 Things India’s Startup Ecosystem Can Learn from China

China always has had a huge influence in the Indian startup ecosystem. From investments and collaborations, China has been an inspiring neighbour for us.

Chinese investors have also been warming up to startups and we have seen a plethora of funds being showered on startups like Hike Messenger, PayTM, Girnar Software, Ray IoT and others. However, there are certain important  takeaways from its neighbours

Mobile penetration

While China is inching towards a cent percent mobile penetration, India is still trailing at a meagre 47 percent penetration rate. This is a very staggering figure considering the number of people present online. It’s only when this  penetration expands, it will allow people to communicate and buy things online. Lucrative data packages and the availability of handsets are expected to expedite this growth.

Tackling multiple languages

Indian e-commerce firms, messaging apps and other B2C startups have the burden of tackling multiple linguistic populations in India. While a country like China has a unanimous language, Indian companies need to design products that cater to the taste and preferences of various communities within in India.

Bureaucracy

Relaxing tax norms, easing availability of resources for our entrepreneurs and making startup friendly policies should be a priority for the government in India. With strong competition from foreign players in the cab-aggregator space, e-commerce and messaging space, Indian entrepreneurs often find themselves struggling to cope with multiple stringent policies. With states like Karnataka, Telangana and Kerala setting up structured policies to facilitate startups, we need to make sure that Indian entrepreneurs have ample resources to hone their products.

The following article contains excerpts from the NASSCOM Product Conclave held in Bangalore last week.