Fintech
Mr. Vineet Tyagi, Global CTO, Biz2X
In 2021, the fintech sector matured with ample of innovations that facilitated holistic financial services over a single mobile interface for Indian users across the world. Fintech has already altered the market forever and shown immense potential to close the gaps in the delivery of financial services to consumers and businesses alike. Ultimately, fintech has emerged as a disruptor, leading the next wave of technology and innovation. In the year 2021, the new-age fintech platforms offered consolidated fintech solutions to users, enabling them to carry out a range of operations such as spending, lending, investing, fund transfer, etc. Assisted e-commerce on existing B2B2C platforms is another feature that new-age fintech provided to Indian users in the year 2021. Financial companies have made huge progress. Collectively, FinTechs have reimagined the once-daunting tasks of opening a bank account, sending money to friends, applying for a loan, and planning for retirement.
Mr. Aditya Damani, Founder, Credit Fair
The onset of the pandemic in 2020 highlighted the importance of risk management and compliance for digital lenders. We at Credit Fair are glad to have outperformed on both these fronts by delivering low NPAs and showcasing our customer centric approach with No Cost EMIs. Building on this solid foundation allowed us to grow 4X in 2021 while ensuring collection efficiency at over 99% despite the second Covid wave. We also won the trust of leading financial institutions such as Northern Arc Capital and Avanse Financial giving us the ammunition to continue our growth in 2022.
The pandemic has highlighted the weaknesses in India’s social infrastructure such as our inadequate healthcare system and volatile job market. We’re glad to be playing our part in building the healthcare and education infrastructure for the future by powering exponential growth for our merchant partners such as Pristyn Care and Toothsi in healthcare and upskilling course providers like upGrad, Board Infinity and Skill Lync by providing timely access to credit to their customers due to our proprietary underwriting and technology.
In 2021, we saw a boom in retail investors flocking to high risk investment products such as crypto and equities. We believe that digital lending can provide plenty of low risk high return opportunities for retail investors and launched a platform, Credit Fair Capital, to enable them to access secure high yield opportunities. Our initial offering is a Senior Secured Bond that can be accessed by anyone willing to invest Rs 10,000 or higher.
It has been gratifying to help over 10,000 Indians move up the credit ladder and we look forward to growing 100X in the next 3 years to help over 1 million Indians improve their finances.
Mr.Vivek Banka– Founding Team @GoalTeller
The year 2021 has been witness to a possibly watershed moment in the digital wealth/finance space, especially in India with a massive spurt in digital adoption. The pandemic being one of the primary reasons for the industry’s spike in growth. FinTech companies have leveraged access to data, technology, innovative cultures, and advanced analytics.
The next 5 years promise to see a paradigm shift in the way we manage our investments with traditional methods, avenues and products being replaced by digital trends. The Indian FinTech industry is witnessing a phase where large financial institutions, governmental bodies, regulators and FinTech companies are coming together to revolutionize the financial ecosystem that operates in the country. A pertinent example of this would be the Account Aggregator network that is seeing a phased rollout by the entities mentioned above collectively.
For GoalTeller, 2021 was a massive catalyst in our vision of the future which has been compounded by regulatory and demographic changes that continue to take place and promise a future that is very exciting for platforms like ours. The role of FinTech firms like ours is expected to rise following the increased adoption of digital financial services, fuelled by intelligent algorithms.
In the coming year 2022 and the following years, we will continue to witness many more fintech companies and platforms get seeded. India is home to several successful FinTech companies and we will also be seeing a lot of consolidation as larger banks and financial institutions are buying into fintech startups in their quest for going ahead of the competition.
Insurance & Wealth Management
Rana Biswas Vice President-insurance & Wealth Solutions | APAC & ANZ Equisoft
While insurance portals have become a popular way to acquire customers and provide digital touch points, much of the sales process is still mired in old school processes: it is tedious, paper-based, and frustrating enough that clients abandon the process before completion. As the industry has invested heavily in digital transformation, streamlining sales and improving consumer experience requires advisors and agents to be available during the digital sales process.
Indeed, hybrid digital and advisor sales processes can reduce frustration and dramatically increase policy application completion rates. To make that happen, mining books of business, enabling more client needs to be met and increasing engagement is the answer. Automating routine client service tasks can free up advisor time for more profitable activities, like relationship management and cross-selling. Because cultivating existing relationships is key: while advisors have a 15% chance of selling a product to a new prospect, that probability more than triples with existing clients, climbing to 50%.
That’s where modern digital tools make a difference, with the likes of e-Applications and client portals enabling all industry stakeholders to stay connected. Customers will receive the accelerated, highly personal care they desire. Advisors will be able to meet with prospects and clients either in person or at a distance. These integrated systems will go a long way towards a seamless customer experience and also enhancing the efficiency and productivity of the frontline sales team.
While allowing advisors and agents to help. Answer questions. Build trust. And have a relationship.
Sustainable Fashion
Mr. Kapil Bhatia, CEO & Founder, UNIREC
2021 has been a year where businesses have returned to normalcy and are now looking to stabilise and grow from hereon. We have just started UNIREC our new garments brand where we manufacture garments from recycled plastic bottles. We are looking at exponential growth as the awareness of sustainability and climate change is greater than ever before and customers are looking for options now where they are doing their bit for the environment along with being fashionable.
So right now we clearly do not have fashion industry that is sustainable. However that is all beginning to change because of consumer behaviour , awareness from the brands and the overall increase in the number of new brands that are coming up in this space. Our future plans are to keep increasing our product lines as we are all set to launch our shirts and our womens collection in the next quarter. Within the product lines there is a massive scope to improve and we keep adding it new products and styles every fortnight to our collection.
Digital Payment
Mr. Manan Dixit, Founder, Fidypay
Covid has accelerated the growth of Digital Payment, and during covid, we have seen unprecedented growth. Retailers, merchants from small towns have also become digital savvy and transformed their day-to-day transactions into digital mode. We have seen a rise in UPI, AEPS space, and small-medium businesses are transacting more in the smaller cities. Would like to add on today’s RBI policy announcement on Digital payment on 8th Dec, I can comfortably say, pricing revised or standardization of pricing across the industry is indeed a good move. The will benefit the end beneficiaries and also the players in the market in long term.
From the company’s standpoint, we have signed multiple new partners from various domains. Our business has grown over 10x compared to last year. We are now serving many upcoming sectors like Government, Cooperative Banks, Micro Finance Institutions. We are now serving many upcoming sectors like manufacturing, Garments, Gaming and so on. We have been constantly upgrading our technology that will be able to take the load of the ever-increasing volumes of online payments, and make it more unified without payment failures. cyber-attacks and other such malicious acts that Merchants & Service Providers are targeted with. We constantly monitor our system and have been strictly vigilant on any such malware or attacks, we invest a great deal in our technology solutions and aim to do the best in the lot. Talking about 2022, we can expect trends like-
• Advent of Digital Banking, less physical bank branch visit
• Adoption of Blockchain in BSFI sector will be faster
• Mobile payment will drive the growth of Digital Payment more than anything
• Buy Now, Pay Later will be the preferred mode
• Payments with Reward Points thus reduce cash transactions considerably
Saas based E-commerce
Mr. Punit Sindhwani, CEO, Paxcom
The year 2021 brought with it an array of newer opportunities & technological advancements that changed the way people shop. From being highly dependent on offline retail and local mom & pop stores to getting comfortable with the idea of eCommerce becoming an inseparable part of our lives, 2021 was a game-changer. About 2 years ago, only 13.6% of sales occurred online. Today, that number is closer to 19.5%, a 45.8% increase in eCommerce market share over two years. eCommerce in India is experiencing a very exciting period of continued growth and constant innovation. Given that our eCommerce penetration is still in the single digits, there is significant headroom for expansion. Now, more than ever is the time to evaluate, strategically plan, and build to scale your digital business for growth, in 2022 and beyond
Technology is referred to as the backbone of eCommerce and now it is evolving to be more human, preparing e-commerce for a better experience than ever before. Be it artificial intelligence or voice search commands, it has marked its flags everywhere, making it easier for customers to make their purchases. While numerous industries have profited from digital sales, some are still struggling to compete in this arena. However, 2022 will be the year of game-changing technologies in eCommerce. We’ve already seen some of them in action, and others are on their way to disrupt the sector. Quick commerce, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, Web3.0, voice search commands, live streaming, omnichannel sales, and chatbots are the top trends expected for 2022. All these emerging trends have one thing in common: their end goal is to make a customer’s shopping experience easier and more enjoyable. Shortly these trends will be a part of our daily routine, start optimizing your business before it becomes obsolete.
Agriculture Technology
Mr. Anuj Kumbhat, CEO & Co-Founder, Weather Risk Management Services-a pioneer in smart and sustainable farming
Farming sector in India has been left behind in catching up with the technology trends. However, 2021 has been a watershed year for the agritech sector in India with a significant number of new technologies having made a foray in smallholder farmer markets like India. These technologies have also been able to successfully find capital to scale with a focus on sustainable food production, storage and transportation. I feel that sustainable technology would remain a focal point in 2022 for healthier & higher produce to achieve food security and improved nutrition while conserving natural resources and biodiversity for the generations to come. For this, we need to de-risk smallholder agricultural value chains by introducing scalable risk management solutions for a thriving ecosystem, productive economy and socio-economic upliftment.
Dynamic Pricing
Ms. Vijeta Soni, Co- Founder & CEO, Sciative
“2021 has been a year of learning as it exposed businesses to unexpected situations with global markets opening, shutting and then re-opening again. What emerged as the only tool to cope up is – Technology. Businesses have fast adopted the use of technology from their production units to supply-chain systems, from marketing to customer loyalty systems. In midst of all this, smart businesses have also accepted the importance of RIGHT PRICE! Technology has also played a key role in price determination of products and services across sectors at massive scales and high velocities. As pricing majorly contributes towards the growth and success of any company, technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are starting to effectively decide the pricing of products and services. With the advent of speculations around the new Covid variant, technology is bound to be at the forefront in 2022 too. Reliability on intelligent technologies for decisions related to sensitive areas like pricing will increase because manual errors or any incorrect pricing decisions shall prove to be fatal for businesses in the tech-enabled consumer world. Keeping the current situation in view, companies across retail, travel, entertainment and many more are further going to adopt and evolve technologies that can help in real-time pricing acknowledging the dynamic market conditions and consumer sentiments.”
Real Estate
Anilcy Verghese, AVP Sales & Marketing, Karle Infra Pvt. Ltd.
Outlook for 2022 Real Estate Trends
1. Focus on Customer Experience (CX): Earlier, the focus was on customer service which is very reactive and focuses on assistance that a company provides to its customers when asked. Now, however, the shift has been towards customer experience which takes into account every single touch point in the entire interaction of the customer with the company which today includes both online and offline touch points. Moreover, Customer Experience Management (CEM) follows CRM, attracting and retaining customers by providing a great experience.
2. Secondary market revitalization: Urbanization and increased standards of living are now reaching secondary markets and beyond. Thus, it provides ample opportunities for developers to take them up, providing redevelopment support and new assets.
3. Rise of Community Living: We at Karle Infra Pvt. Ltd. have started seeing a trend in the younger generation, especially in Bengaluru, to move into a community that has good amenities. This ongoing quarter has seen considerable growth in sales – 3 times as much as compared to last year. Moreover, customers during this season are confident, displaying genuine interest in buying/investing in the property, resulting in stronger numbers for genuine inquiries. The overall site visits have also doubled since last year. This surge in numbers is not limited just to our domestic market, as there’s been a 2x rise in sales for the same project in the NRI market compared to the last festive season. These numbers are a clear indication of what the future holds for gated communities. This will be an ongoing trend in 2022 as well
4. Conversational AI: Ensuring a better CEM, these allow 24*7 contact channels with quick response times and minimal error rates. According to Deloitte, “these assistants would be built for purpose, have a rich set of capabilities, and be integrated into the end-to-end process landscape of the enterprise.”
Ecommerce
Mr. Punit Gupta, Founder & CEO, EasyEcom,
“The pandemic has proved to be a source of immense learning for every business, especially for the ecommerce space. The year 2021 witnessed the emergence of digital as a preferred medium for businesses that led to increased adoption of digital for reaching out to customers. The e-commerce industry due to its highly volatile nature has been one of the earliest to recognize the urgency of adopting the ‘new normal.’ The necessity of employing omni-channel for ensuring sales across channels has paved the way of employing an e-commerce enabler that streamlines all processes such as stock management, warehousing, payment reconciliation and order management. The year ahead will see digital transformation being recognized as an indispensable element in the ecommerce industry to drive operations, fulfil customer demands and ensure customer retention. Many support functions that drive ecommerce operations will come to the forefront too.”
Ecommerce & Logistics
Mr. Harsh Vaidya, Founder & Ceo, WareIQ.
“COVID 19 has accelerated numerous traditional retail businesses to shift towards online operations in a grand manner. Since eCommerce force chains are erected to be further tech-ferocious to offer speed than the traditional retail force chains, the companies have been proactive for the shift. The rapid-fire pace of digital metamorphosis is being reconsidered in Indian logistics. Robotization, artificial intelligence, machine literacy, data analytics, and the Internet of Effects (IoT) are significantly contributing to adding functional effectiveness.
Volumes will surge online, and they will come from various channels – Traditional marketplaces, D2C, Vertical marketplaces, Live/Social & Q-commerce. This will be an exciting year for modern brands to build scale as barriers to entry & scale are lower than it’s even been. Digital-first brands will expand offline, and offline majors will go online, and omnichannel commerce will see a big push. As a supply-chain enabler to this modern commerce, WareIQ is excited to seize the opportunity”
Consumer Electronics
Mr. Mandeep Arora, MD, UBON
“The year 2021 has been phenomenal. Despite the pandemic, we did well though not expected. Covid 19 brought along new opportunities and challenges. We explored and conquered it while launching new, innovative products in order to complement the hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision of “Make in India ”.
Mr. Vipin Agarwal, Co-Founder, Candes
“This year, 2021 has turned out to be an amazing year, Candes is now recognised by various market analyst as one of the top D2C Indian brands in home and kitchen appliances space. We grew 300% to 2020 and now in top 3 in several categories on online marketplaces. As larger focus on energy saving and building comfort around smart appliances, we launched IoT to most of our products. In addition to this, we launched a new range of Washing Machines and Smart TV and extended our product range to Kitchen appliances as well, including Gas Stoves, Mixer Grinder, Blenders, and Choppers this year. In 2022, we plan to enter refrigerator and AC segment and build supply chain towards these heavy good. We are bullish to a 500 cr revenue year in 2022 and outperform most established with digital only brand in Home appliance space”
Mr. Lalit Arora, Co – Founder, VingaJoy
“2021 has been a Ringa Ringa Joy year for us. We worked around coming with a brand new vision, a new perspective. We took feedback of our end consumers into consideration, came out with new new products having absolutely new features while keeping the price line unchanged.
Hospitality Industry
Ms. Ankita Sheth, Co-Founder, Vista Rooms
It’s been a year in which we have gone from strength to strength, with the support of a strong villa-owner community and loyal guests. Vista is becoming synonymous with villas. At Vista, we have built the largest hospitality brand for villa rentals in India. We have grown by 300%, crossing over 100 cr of revenues. This has been driven primarily by a high rate of repeats and referrals. Over 50% of our guests have come to us without spending a rupee in acquiring them. We are no longer just a choice of a getaway but a way to live. Guests are staying with us for multiple weeks to several months with over 20% of guests staying for extended time periods.
We see 2022 as a year to further cater to our guest’s needs and preferences. Our guest feedbacks help us plan and iterate constantly. We are expanding our network of villas across the country while being extremely
selective and curated in the options offered to guests. We plan to grow from roughly 400 villas to over 750, adding over 1500 rooms. Additionally, we are looking to expand our curated list of culinary experiences and activities at each home, mixing local as well as global elements that guests seek in order to deliver a holistic experience and not just a stay.
