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Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin recently lauded the Indian start-up potential, saying that although the Indian start-up market is a few years behind China’s, it is a market still worth betting on.
He said this during a panel discussion at Forbes Global CEO Conference last month held in Singapore.
Saverin added his investment company B Capital is deploying “a lot of dollars” into India and is thinking about the long-term success of new companies there.
Saverin believes that much of the growth in India will come from enterprise tech companies. These are tech companies providing services to businesses. He said that his company has put money into an electronic health records company and a contract management company.
“I think India is a huge market with just tremendous potential,” CNBC reported him saying in response to a question on why India’s start-up ecosystem has not generated better returns. “And I think as the market continues to mature, and as you get into a better macroeconomic environment, it is a market to bet on, combined with Southeast Asia.”
India itself has a very vibrant start-up scene. India is the 3rd largest ecosystem for start-ups globally with over 77,000 new businesses. Besides India, Singapore remains another exciting destination for investors.
Singapore has established itself as a start-up hub, attracting regional entrepreneurial talent and companies to its shores. Indian companies are no exception.
They are attracted by its favourable tax rates, strong infrastructure, stable government, simple business rules and legal environment. The country’s advanced technology ecosystem and innovation-driven policies are seeing a growing number of Indian start-ups make Singapore their gateway into the larger ASEAN market.
Since the year 2000, more than 8,000 Indian companies have established an entity in Singapore. India-based companies can incorporate in Singapore through a relatively simple and inexpensive process. This is because Singapore allows 100 per cent foreign ownership, meaning an Indian citizen or an India-based business can fully own a Singapore company.
Examples of established Indian companies that have chosen to incorporate in Singapore include Flipkart, Mercator, and Tata Consultancy Services. Among the better-known start-ups which have made an impression in the local market with at least one co-founder who is originally from India are Circle. Life, a mobile virtual network operator, RedDoorz, an accommodation platform for budget hotels, and LeenaAI, an artificial intelligence-driven human resource solutions company.
Indian start-up market worth betting on: Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin
