ET Soonicorns Summit 2024: Bucking a trend, future machine language could be English, impending funding spring, Karnataka’s burgeoning startup ecosystem and bridging gender funding gap: Morning Brief

The ET Soonicorns Summit 2024 is underway in Bengaluru and it has been a fruitful pre-lunch session, with the launch of the ‘ET 50 Future Unicorns of Karnataka’ report, a keynote address by BV Naidu, Chairman, Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM), and key insights on the Indian startup ecosystem from the panellists through different sessions held so far.

The event began with the keynote address by BV Naidu, where he spoke at length about the thriving startup ecosystem in Bengaluru, the forward-looking policies of the Karnataka government and how India’s economic growth has been moving in a positive direction.

“Bengaluru’s startup ecosystem is flourishing like no other. Out of 115 unicorns in India, Bengaluru has produced 53, maintaining a GDP growth rate of 8.5%,” Naidu said.

He added that there is strong cooperation between the government and industry stakeholders in Karnataka, which has played a pivotal role in the growth of the startup ecosystem.

“The government has fostered Centres of Excellence, further encouraging innovation and efforts to expand the ecosystem beyond Bengaluru, including Mysore. The Karnataka government is also supporting entrepreneurs through the Elevate programme and has so far funded 198 startups,” he said.

Hari Menon talks about the rise of e-commerce in India and fast-paced commerce trends
The fireside chat with Hari Menon, Co-Founder, BigBasket, was held after the Chairman’s inaugural address. The talk was titled “Fast Commerce: A Paradigm Shift in E-Commerce” and was moderated by Digbijay Mishra, Deputy Editor, ETtech.

Menon said he was glad that he had been proven wrong in his assumptions about fast commerce as the sector has seen some major growth leaps in the last few years. “Customers are enjoying it; speed is something that customers love, especially if we talk about groceries,” he said, adding that fast commerce was no longer verticalised and is moving towards a multi-category approach. “As we speak, at BigBasket we have been selling three to four iPhones per minute!” shared Menon.

Mayank Kumar on the future of machines and human languages
Another fireside chat with Mayank Kumar, Co-Founder and CEO, upGrad, titled “Future of Learning: Will Future Developers Speak English to Machines?” gave an in-depth look at the evolution of machine learning and what the future holds for this domain.

Kumar told an anecdote: “The future coding language could be English and English.”

He said the need of the hour is that coders must also be familiar with domain knowledge and client dynamics, and be prepared for this future as the language of coding evolves and machine communication takes on a whole new dimension.
A panel that deciphers the investment trend
The “Homecoming” panel opened and closed on a deeply emotional note as the speakers were visibly proud of the strides India has been making in changing its startup landscape, towards a direction where founders are turning around and returning to India.

They said the reasons ranged from favorable government policies, easily accessible venture capital, a much larger and better talent pool, and easy access to the primary market for founders.

Abhishek Dubey, Partner, Trilegal – M&A, Venture Capital & Private Equity, and Ramakant Sharma, Founder & COO, Livspace, were the speakers who asserted that there was no reason for founders to move out of India in the first place.

“You should only move when you have a very strong reason to do so. If your entire business is India-centric, there is no point in moving,” they said, adding that favourable government policies should put emphasis on staying in India and not shifting operations abroad.

A panel addressing the issue of the gender funding gap
Jo Aggarwal, Founder and CEO of Wysa, one of the panellists who spoke on the topic “Women in India’s startup ecosystem: Breaking barriers and bridging the gender gap in funding”, insisted that “funding remains a bro culture.”

They highlighted that early-stage funding may still be relatively easier, but late-stage funding remains a challenge for female-led startups, stating that decision-making is often based on social biases.

Aggarwal was joined by Shanti Mohan, Founder, LetsVenture & trica; Shally Modi, Co-founder, Pratilipi; Minu Margeret, Founder, BlissClub; Rashmi Daga, Founder, FreshMenu. And the session was moderated by Shabori Das, Senior Assistant Editor, ETPrime.

The panelists said that “women in the ecosystem” is a new and evolving strategy from both the founder and investor perspective, while women have created a mutually conducive ecosystem for themselves, which will surely go a long way in bridging the gender funding gap.

Balancing regulation and innovation in fintech
The last panel before lunch was on fintech, titled “How to strike a balance between regulatory perspective and growth?” with Akash Sinha, Co-Founder and CEO, Cashfree Payments; Hardika Shah, Founder and CEO, Kinara Capital; Anand Prabhudesai, Co-Founder, Turtlemint; and Mridul Gupta, Founding Partner, CoinDCX, on the speaker panel, moderated by Pratik Bhakta, Deputy Editor, Times Internet.

In an in-depth analysis of the topic, the speakers said that the focus is certainly on making digital lending more transparent for consumers, although regulations not only help build better relationships with customers but can also help create new employment opportunities in this dynamic sector. They said that investors are deeply interested in the due diligence process and thoroughly scrutinize the regulatory environment.

The summit isn’t over yet. There are some more interesting sessions waiting for you after lunch, including the most important one, where we’ll tell you the ins and outs of fundraising. Join us!