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Launched in 2014, StoryBites is a weekly feature from YourStory, featuring notable quotable quotes in our articles (see the previous post here). Share these 40 gems and insights with your colleagues and networks, and check back to the original articles for more insights.

Drawn from our comprehensive coverage of entrepreneurship, innovation and technology, we present 40 quotes on the continuing rise of startup, digital and D2C ecosystems in India.

We have divided these 40 quotes into six categories: Demographics, Entrepreneurship, Market shifts, Sectoral strengths, Challenges, and The road ahead.

YourStory wishes all founders, innovators, and changemakers a Happy Holiday Season, and all the best for success and impact in 2022!

Demographics and talent

India’s biggest strength is its demographic dividend, we are a very young country. So if we can educate our youth, we will become a global powerhouse. – Divya Gokulnath, BYJU’s

60 million digitally savvy millennials in India. This is a large, attractive, and growing market, especially in the backdrop of $180 ARPU for top retail banks in the country. – Kabir Narang, B Capital Group

India has deep design, verification, firmware talent – the necessary ingredients for the success of a fabless startup. – Sateesh Andra, Endiya Partners

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

The core of India, as much as 80 percent, lies in non-metro areas. – Dimpy Dewan, Hanchens

India at present has more than 50 crore learners, which makes the country’s educational market enormous and open for diverse requirements. – Anil Nagar, Adda247

Entrepreneur boom

By 2025, India will have more than one lakh startups creating a value of $1 trillion, with 200 unicorns creating 3.5 million jobs. – TV Mohandas Pai, Aarin Capital

Today, startups are mainstream. People are enamoured by the charm of startups and how they are solving interesting, real-world problems. – Saurabh S, Praman.Ai

This has been the year for India, for entrepreneurs, VCs, consumers, and enterprises. – Varsha Tagare, Qualcomm Ventures

The deep tech startups’ base in India has expanded at over 40 percent CAGR over the past four years, with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) accounting for two-thirds of all deep tech startups. – Rohini Srivathsa, Microsoft India

Indian fintech is a unique and collaborative environment that combines large-scale modular and interoperable digital public goods like UPI and Aadhar with cutting-edge software products and platforms that are now mainstream. – Pranav Pai, 3one4 Capital

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

By 2030, the [SaaS] sector is slated to grow exponentially to $1 trillion valuation, combined revenue of $50-70 billion and 500,000 in new employment. – Prasanna Krishnamoorthy, Upekkha

Indian entrepreneurs already handle uncertainty as if it is a norm, not a special condition. That is the beauty of Indian entrepreneurship. – Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Paytm

If India encourages innovation and entrepreneurship in digital finance and crypto, India could be the next financial hub on a global stage. – Surojit Chatterjee, Coinbase

Market shifts

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

India is expected to be ranked amongst the Top 5 business Hospitality markets globally by 2030. – Vikrant Varshney, SucSEED Indovation Fund

India is a young market, where credit awareness is just coming in. The pandemic has boosted the demand for lending and consumers are looking at credit as a means to improve their lives.- Prashanth Ranganathan, PayU Finance

The EV demand has been shooting up across the country, and customers are coming in expecting electric scooters to wow them. – Tarun Mehta, Ather Energy

The kids’ apparel market is $1.2 billion and while it is competitive, it is still highly unorganised with few brands. – Surbhi Bhatia, The Mom Store

Tier-I and II cities, apart from the metros, are starting to have a higher disposable income, and therefore higher discretionary spending. – Sushant Goel, Third Wave Coffee

Quick-Commerce in India is an opportunity of epic proportions and strong unit economics. – Aadit Palicha, Zepto

Sectoral strengths

India is the wellness capital of the world and the birthplace of Yoga, Meditation, Ayurveda and many superfoods. With the quality of talent India has, we must take pole position in delivering the highest quality wellness services to the globe. – Pooja Khanna, Mindhouse

India is without a doubt one of the most exciting growth territories in the global music and media market. – Jonathan Strauss, Create Music Group

Paid gamers in India are set to become ~235 million in 2025, from 80 million gamers in 2020 which will drive the growth of paid gamers. – India Gaming Report 2021

Vegan-friendly and cruelty-free alternatives have become extremely common as consumers are now aware of the leather industry’s effects on the environment and animals. – Veena Ashiya, Monrow shoes

The appreciation for Indian art has grown over the years and people have developed a new appreciation of our traditional art forms. They recognise the dedication, patience, and the craft that goes into these exquisite creations. – Suvigya Sharma

Challenges – and opportunities

About 7,000 people are dying daily out of hunger in India, and about 20 crore people sleep on an empty stomach every day. – Nilay Agarwal, Vishalakshi Foundation

Social impact is something which will not come easy in a country like ours. Right things have to be built. – Aditya Shankar, Doubtnut

Climate action and environmental sustainability are the need of the hour to save India’s cities. – Kushagra Srivastava, Chakr Innovation

India is the right place to demonstrate social entrepreneurship because of the sheer number of problems that are waiting to be solved. – Manish Rathi, IntrCity

One of the biggest problems with the Indian education system is that it does not encourage financial literacy. – Akash Jayan, Havenspire

There is a unique role for social enterprises to intervene and build livelihood opportunities through market-linkages while addressing basic infrastructure, and resource challenges in rural India. – Ajaita Shah, Frontier Markets

The road ahead

There is a very strong optimism in India, and it has never been like this before. India has become a trusted destination for foreign money. – Sreedhar Prasad

Small towns in India will write the next chapter of India’s startup story. – Ritesh Agarwal, Oyo

Over the next five years, D2C brands present at least a $100 billion opportunity, and 600+ brands have raised over $1.5 billion in the past two years. – Nishant Verman, Bzaar

In the next five years, growth of vernacular video consumption will create many opportunities for multiple businesses and diversify content creation and commerce in India — creating over 50 million self-sustainable micro-entrepreneurs and over 3000 emerging D2C brands. – Bimal Kartheek Rebba, Trell

India has a good run on digital transformation and this sets the foundation for the next phase of deep tech where the opportunity is fantastic. – Manoj Kohli, Softbank India

We are the first generation in India responsible for our own marriages. – Snehil Khanor, TrulyMadly

YourStory 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).