Launched in 2014, StoryBites is a weekly feature from YS, featuring notable quotable quotes in our articles of this past week (see the previous post here). Share these 25 gems and insights from the week of December 6-12 with your colleagues and networks, and check back to the original articles for more insights. See also our special compilation of quotes related to India’s coronavirus responses here.
Women led companies such as Wingreens, Mamaearth, Sugar, etc., have shown us the strength and success that strong women founders can bring. – Kabir Kochhar, Anthill Athena
Growth is like Goddess Lakshmi – always welcomed. – Ridhi Gangar, TMF
[Close to 50 percent of women in India are between 18 to 35 years.] And all these women are looking to navigate their sexual health and lives. – Vaishnavi Raju, Hera
Children below the age of 18 constitute nearly 41 percent of the country’s population, a large and underdeveloped market with high potential for growth. And, the growing interest of children in fintech is apparent. – Navneet Gupta, YPay
A farmer burns around 1,000 kgs of paddy in a way. Vegan leather is poised to become a $89.6 billion industry by 2025. – Bhavna Belani, Bagatella
There are numerous laws that were introduced by legislation to protect animals, but the problem is, these laws are not in action or hardly anyone follows them. – Ramanuj Mukherjee, LawSikho
There’s a lot of wastage in the supply chain where dead pupa can be used in fisheries and poultry food and other things. – Saurabh Agarwal, ReshaMandi
Approximately 3.3 million tons of plastic waste are disposed in India every year and around 113,000 tons of this waste comprise single use plastic sanitary napkins. – Shripriya Khaitan Dhelia, FabPad
The alco-bev industry is growing every day. Millennials enjoy exploring new varietals and brands and appreciate what they drink. – Vaniitha Jaiin, The Perfect Pour
Earlier, people were not ready to invest in athleisure. Now, they don’t mind buying comfortable and quality active wear for their workouts, but don’t want to pay a hefty price. – Rohan Shah, TRUEREVO
Our major challenge has been developing a robust technology platform, which caters to the needs of women farmers in remote regions. – Sanjeev Kumar, PashuBajaar
Criminal records are quite fragmented in India, and checks usually take four to five days. – Ajay Trehan, AuthBridge
Concern for the environment, health issues being caused due to air pollution and rising fuel prices are some of the primary reasons India is witnessing a conscious shift to EVs. – Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, Venture Catalysts
More than 50 percent of Indians travel by bus, be it intracity or intercity, but the Indian bus industry remains one of the most neglected parts of our mobility ecosystem. – Amit Gupta, GoGo Bus
India is at the heart of a transformation where digital is playing a central role in changing lives, creating opportunity, and spurring entirely new models of innovation and enterprise for the world. – Manesh Mahatme, WhatsApp Payments, India
India’s social commerce sector will be twice the size of the current ecommerce market within 10 years. – Anuradha Balasubramaniam, Poshmark India Marketplace
We have witnessed a fast adoption of digital banking services, with users appreciating the new era of banking in India. – Satish Kumar Gupta, PPBL
After the proliferation of smartphones and with the rise of the age of discount brokers, the barriers to access financial markets have been torn down. But the real problem for a retail investor remains unsolved – which is not Why to trade but What to trade. – Manvendra Singh, Trinkerr
Blockchain technology has been transformative for the global and Indian tech ecosystem. – Kaavya Prasad, Lumos Labs
E-pharma is a sunrise category. The current market size is $490 million, still a small size in India’s retail pharma market that is pegged at $25 billion. However, e-pharma has grown at a CAGR of 79 percent in the past three years. – Siddharth Maurya
As of now, farm advisory is not a competitive market, but it has started evolving in recent years with the help of technology. – Jagan Chitiprolu, Samhitha Crop Care Clinics
Nine out of every 10 new internet users are native language speakers, and hence the need for brands to connect with users in regional languages carries significant value. – Aprameya Radhakrishna, Koo
We should not lose sight of the fact that affordability has been a critical driver of the phenomenally rapid expansion of the mobile subscriber base in India. – Mukesh Ambani, Reliance Jio
SMEs now, more than ever, want digitisation and online presence for their business. – Sri Teja, Swipe
The Middle East and Southeast Asia are also mobile-first markets, similar to India. – Mihir Gupta, Teachmint
Even if you have decided to start your own business in Web 3.0, there is so much uncertainty in terms of the future. – Pareen Lathia, Buidlers Tribe
IPO is a logical next step for SaaS companies in India of a certain scale as they explore new geographical markets. – Aditya Shukla, Bain and Company
We have created 44 unicorns in 10 months. Inclusiveness is the key for today’s startup generation. – Amitabh Kant, Niti Aayog
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).
