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Launched in 2014, StoryBites is a weekly feature from YS, featuring notable quotable quotes in our articles of this past week (see the previous edition here). Share these 25 gems and insights from the week of July 25-31 with your colleagues and networks, and check back to the original articles for more insights. See our special compilation of quotes related to India’s coronavirus responses here.

The entrepreneurial spirit of local businesses in India has always helped them survive and fight competition from larger players. – Kumar Aditya, ChattyBao

As on June 30, 2022, a total of 72,993 startups are recognised by DPIIT, of which 34,473 (48%) recognised startups belong to metropolitan cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Pune, and Ahmedabad. Therefore, over 50% of the recognised startups belong to non-metropolitan cities. – Som Prakash, Union Minister

Enterprise tech, ecommerce, and fintech sectors are spearheading the funding frenzy in 2022. – Mona Singh, India Accelerator

Tier II cities have the same, if not more, potential than Tier I cities, with less traffic, costs, and other urban problems. – Manoj Reddy, Codebele

Post agri and industry boom, Punjab has missed the current economic wave i.e. tech and startups. – Pramod Bhasin, Innovation Mission Punjab

Our plan is to place India on the global map for water hyacinth products, which is currently dominated by Thailand and Vietnam. – Paulmie Gogoi, Woven Tales of North East

Sadly, Union Budget 2022 lacks any specific declared initiatives to enhance the healthcare sector and local manufacturing, in contrast to the 2021 Budget. – Ashutosh Verma, Exalta

When a woman is giving birth, she is at her most vulnerable state and unable to defend herself. What she needs are ethics and compassion. But women in India are disempowered largely. – Janhavi Nilekani, Aastrika Foundation

India is the diabetic capital of the world and all stats point towards the need for an alternative to fried food. – Archit Agarwal, Steamup Foods

India gets about $80 billion as remittance every year, which either comes in cash or in bank account. – Anand Kumar Bajaj, PayNearby

Traditionally, retail investors have had access to fixed deposits (FDs), real estate, gold, and debt funds in the fixed income space, but other structured fixed income products were available only to the ultra-rich. – Vineet Agrawal, Jiraaf

India has nearly $2 trillion invested in fixed deposits, and the mutual fund industry is sized at $0.5 trillion, which saw a 3X growth in the last five years. – Barath Shankar Subramanian, Accel Partners

Financing hurdles hold back millions of Indian students from considering US education. – Nikhil Mudgal, Lorien Finance

Formal lending is only at 28% in the country…there’s no denying that there’s a big credit gap which pay-later companies are obviously able to plug. – Vishwas Patel, Payments Council of India

With US payments companies such as PayPal and Block (formerly Square) typically limiting themselves to developed markets with high levels of credit card penetration rates, Indian fintechs have a unique opportunity to move into emerging markets and increase global footprint. – Sampath Sharma Nariyanuri, S&P Global Market Intelligence

YS has also published the pocketbook ‘Proverbs and Quotes for Entrepreneurs: A World of Inspiration for Startups’ as a creative and motivational guide for innovators (downloadable as apps here: Apple, Android).