Startup Mantra: Need collective efforts to push Brand Pune

If ‘Brand Pune’ must beat Bengaluru or Delhi startup hubs, the stakeholders should get their act together to set up native venture capital firms, create more networking opportunities and create startup leadership talent

It is that time of the year when we take stock of the startup ecosystem in the city. While we would party hard tonight and welcome the new year with hope, love and happiness, there is a stark reality of the entrepreneurial world that Pune startup founders and native business families must address in the new year. With a lot of IPOs, M&As, funding rounds in 2022, Pune has seen individual success and brilliance but at the same time, lack of positioning the city as a ‘brand’ collectively in the past decade has raised serious doubts about our ability to stay ahead in the race. If ‘Brand Pune’ must beat Bengaluru or Delhi startup hubs, the stakeholders should get their act together to set up native venture capital firms, create more networking opportunities and create startup leadership talent.

With a lot of IPOs, M&As, funding rounds in 2022, Pune has seen individual success and brilliance but at the same time, lack of positioning the city as a ‘brand’ collectively in the past decade has raised serious doubts about our ability to stay ahead in the race. (REPRESENTATIVE PHOTO)

Overview

According to Amit Chitale, a business leader who closely observes the Pune startup ecosystem, “Pune has largely three types of startups. “First category is of those solving very deep problem statements who become immediately visible to larger organisations for their far horizon strategies and who get quick traction in terms of M&A for them. The second category is probably following a more conventional path, not looking for early exits, building and becoming big players in their respective domains. These may become the catalyst for the next wave of entrepreneurs. They have a very long-term future for Pune and industry and they are seeing good traction universally.”

“The third category is of startups who have survived and sustained. They picked up good problem statements, but their industry itself was very sluggish having its own inertia. These startups have been around, but you do not see them making big noise. They are following conventional company build-up approaches,” added Amit.

Bhavik Vasa, founder of GetVantage, a revenue-based financing platform which has funded over ten startups from Pune, feels Pune is rapidly evolving as a startup hub and will be home to many more IPO-bound companies in the coming years.

“The state’s startup policies are favourable for both founders and investors,” says Bhavik.

Mahaveer Muttha, startup mentor and Google Developer Group Pune Organiser, said, “Pune is standing at the 4th position in India and 90th position globally when we talk about the startup ecosystem. Being an automobile, and educational hub, along with large setups of industries in fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), manufacturing, and real estate and one of the best places to stay in the country, Pune is becoming the first choice for startup founders. There are more than 3,000 registered companies in Pune and hundreds of them have received million-dollar funding so far. Eight unicorns out of 108 from the country are from Pune and plenty of startups who are on the edge to becoming unicorns.”

Leadership talent

Sandeep Saxena, vice-president (revenue) at drivebuddy AI, says, “Ecosystem is created by wealthy people because when you have wealth, it becomes easy to start creating bigger ventures. We have very few such examples in Pune and hence we are not on par with Bengaluru or Delhi. Third-generation entrepreneurs in the city are creating traditional businesses since they are risk-averse and carry cultural baggage. Cities like Indore, Noida, and Ahmedabad, which were behind Pune, may overtake and dislodge us from the top five spots soon.”

Bharat Oswal, CII Young Indians Yuva Pune Chair, says, “Colleges and universities in the Indian context are always looked upon as placement agencies. This is the core problem in our existing education ecosystem. Our focus must shift more towards creating an ecosystem which makes students think, experiment and fail fast. Entrepreneurship will be built if we create the right culture of problem-solving and sync it with what the industry demands which eventually can convert into a potential business opportunity.”

Culture building

Vishal Kulkarni, a business growth strategist says, “The year 2022 has seen a big upscale movement for startups. Out of entire startups registered in Maharashtra, 64 per cent are registered in Mumbai and Pune alone. While we analyse the success and failures of Pune startups, we must acknowledge that an excellent product supported by good funding should have served as a ‘winning formula’ but unfortunately, very few startups have managed to scale up businesses.”

“An excellent product with good funding is the brighter side of the coin, whereas lack of focus on the right ‘culture building’ is the darker side. Organisational culture is the foundation for successful scaling of startups. For new-age entrepreneurs to succeed in scaling up their companies, they must shift focus from an individual-driven organisation approach to a process-driven organisation,” says Vishal.

Culture values for entrepreneurship

Satish Patil, an entrepreneur with a successful exit, said, “Pune’s startup universe has taken a super high grade since last few years. Pune startups have been vocal about their ‘core values,’ but creating a strong culture is a journey, not a destination. Startups may not get everything right, but continued focus, investment, and iteration is needed to see progress in this area. One important area to focus on could be prioritising diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). DEI is both an essential aspect of company values as well as a contributor to company performance. Research shows that companies with racial, gender and ethnic diversity are more profitable than their peers. Hopefully, we will see more sustained efforts in Pune startup ecosystem in the DEI space in 2023.”

Highlighting the importance of ‘relationship intelligence’ for startups wanting to scale up, Satish said, “Working in a primarily digital environment in the post-Covid time requires technology to play a new, outsized role in facilitating relationship management. People now rely on their virtual networking skills to get the job done, even as they fall back on people they knew before the pandemic. This networking is supported by relationship intelligence — the insight into your team’s network, business relationships, and customer interactions.”

Scaling up

Nikita Vora, a digital marketing trainer focussing especially on solo women solopreneurs says, “Women entrepreneurs have limited time and resources to devote to marketing efforts. While working with Pune entrepreneurial community closely, we observe some common mistakes made by startup founders. These include failing to define a clear target market, not having a solid marketing plan, underestimating the importance of customer feedback, and not adapting to changing market conditions.”

“Marketing automation can help them streamline marketing tasks, improve customer engagement, boost lead generation, and enhance personalisation in marketing efforts by segmenting audiences and targeting specific groups with customised messaging and content, added Nikita.

Future trends: Web3, blockchain startups

Shrikant Bhalerao, cofounder of Seracle, said, “While there is wider regional recognition of the Web3 space, the city still lacks a well-defined talent pool and access to networking opportunities. A well-developed talent pool is needed to find qualified and experienced personnel who can help develop and grow the business. It is essential to support the development of industry-specific talent by investing in educational programmes, such as hackathons, coding boot camps, and other skill development forms.”

“Additionally, access to funds is another pressing issue. As Pune is still relatively new and uncharted territory for most investors and venture capitalists, it can take time to get funding. This issue can be addressed by concerted efforts like establishing incubators and accelerators for startups to create a space that can attract and nurture talent. This will enable support like access to mentors, grants, and other financial resources,” said Shrikant.