Abhishek Kumar Gupta is Community Head of the most active startup community “Startup Delhi” & Founder of Next BIg Brand. A concept addressing pain points of growing brands and providing them a platform to showcase their individuality, Next Big Brand (NBB) by serial entrepreneur and social influencer, Abhishek Kumar Gupta is here to change the dynamics India’s brand culture has been seeking for a while now. NBB, a brand-centric media company is opening its platform to address recent updates, news, know-how’s and know what’s to brands across the globe.
When most small scale businesses across the globe struggled to cope with the Covid-19 and its subsequent lockdowns, Indian startups grew like never before despite there was a lack of demand for services. They quickly changed their working model and befriended technology to cater to the services that are required for the companies to work remotely to cease the spread of the dreaded coronavirus. And, many startups followed the suit to sustain during the challenging times.
If we see the scenario of the startup ecosystem in India, it’s the third largest in the world. The intensification of the startup industry is so rapid that it’s estimated that every one hour; three tech startups are born in our country. The colossal impact of the coronavirus pandemic has made the risk-takers of the economy, entrepreneurs, to unite together to proactively help each other in finding effective solutions by offering their moral support, mentorship and capital.
Here’s how Indian startups are emerging strong in the times of global crisis:
Community Approach
The startups have given a whole lot of employment to many unemployed youth of the nation. And, they are continuing to do so in this time of need by providing unprecedented support to their employees both monetarily and mentally. Many startups are providing free health consultations and vaccinations not only to their employees but also to their family members. Many emerging app-based grocery and cab services are providing free and full health coverage for their delivery staff if affected with the virus.
E-commerce coming to the rescue
The uncertainty and fear of COVID-19 have instilled a sense of panic buying in people and shutting down many brick and mortar establishments. In order to cater to the people in need, e-commerce startups have stepped up and are working round the clock. They have restricted people’s habit of hoarding stuff by flagging excessive purchases by users with the same address. Many have also started disclosing the inventory levels of products just to reduce consumers’ panic.
Widespread dissemination of information
With the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, news/information about the virus has become one of the essential needs of human beings. Many news dissemination startups have come up to cater to the needs of a multilingual nation. They have been sending information in the vernacular languages so that people adhere to the pivotal guidelines pertaining to the Covid-19. Each stakeholder of the startup community left no stone unturned to innovate and provide support to the vulnerable section of the society.
Huge focus on corporate social responsibility
In this challenging time, the startup community didn’t shy away from extending their support to the local people. Many startups have formed a conglomeration in raising donations to distribute COVID essentials like masks, hand sanitizers and soaps to the local community. Hospitality startups have joined hands with the state government to convert their places to the quarantine centres and hospital facilities to meet the growing demand of healthcare services. They have also provided pocket-friendly accommodation to the people, who got stuck in a different city and couldn’t go back due to the lockdown.