Thread
Excited to release the 1st Indus Valley Annual Report to the world.
Indus Valley = our moniker for India's startup ecosystem.
The 1st issue gives us a chance to take stock of its rise and evolution, take a look back at 2021 & finally look ahead to what is coming.
@amal_vats
Indus Valley = our moniker for India's startup ecosystem.
The 1st issue gives us a chance to take stock of its rise and evolution, take a look back at 2021 & finally look ahead to what is coming.
@amal_vats
A brief look at the report. Check out the full report (~100 slides) at bit.ly/IndusValley2022
The report has 3 sections
• Understanding India
• Understanding Indus Valley
• State of the Valley 2021
The report has 3 sections
• Understanding India
• Understanding Indus Valley
• State of the Valley 2021
Each section starts with a slide that has a ‘India in one tweet’ image. This for the 1st section - Understanding India.
'Understanding India' tries to understand India as
• a country of contradictions
• through data
• through ideas of India.
'Understanding India' tries to understand India as
• a country of contradictions
• through data
• through ideas of India.
A representative slide from the Contradictions section.
India has the highest number of women pilots at 12.4% of total pilots (one in every eight pilots is a woman) and also simultaneously one of the lowest female labour participation rate.
India has the highest number of women pilots at 12.4% of total pilots (one in every eight pilots is a woman) and also simultaneously one of the lowest female labour participation rate.
Slides from the Data section.
Much of the heavy lifting on consumption is by a slim class of consumers, about 10-12% of the population, though still sizeable at ~100m.
Much of the heavy lifting on consumption is by a slim class of consumers, about 10-12% of the population, though still sizeable at ~100m.
The poor in fact have taken a massive hit from the economic disruptions due to COVID. 
PostCOVID, India1 has pulled further away from India2 and India3.
We are still calibrating these numbers, but the broad trends hold.
We are still calibrating these numbers, but the broad trends hold.
Now, for India understood through the various ideas of India.
A slide on how English fluency, success in exams, and achieving exit to a country abroad are the three axes of advancement in India.
A slide on how English fluency, success in exams, and achieving exit to a country abroad are the three axes of advancement in India.
On to the 2nd section, Understanding Indus Valley, which begins with one of my favourite India in one tweets. 
On Indus Valley's changing position in the Indian business ecosystem, from the periphery to the mainstream. 
Think of Indus Valley as the new IT sector in terms of jobs and value created. The IT sector created 4.5m direct jobs & 12m indirect jobs, ~30% of India’s white collar sector vs the estimated Indus Valley's 3m / 6% of white collar jobs. 
A deep dive into a few sectors - etailing, fintech, SaaS. Some representative slides from the etailing section.
The size of the ecommerce / etailing sector has 2x in last 2 yrs spurred by COVID tailwinds.
The size of the ecommerce / etailing sector has 2x in last 2 yrs spurred by COVID tailwinds.
...on the back of systematic improvements in delivery, costs and coverage by Indian e-logistics companies. 
Resting on a narrow sliver of power users.
@kunalb11 says India's top 5m users power 60% of online sales in India.
@kunalb11 says India's top 5m users power 60% of online sales in India.
Now SaaS. India's success in global SaaS (Zoho, Freshworks, Postman etc) is well-known.
Less known is our Bharat SaaS / SaaSTra (SaaS + TRAnsactions) model that Indus Valley to overcome the relatively small size of the organised enterprise market in India.
Less known is our Bharat SaaS / SaaSTra (SaaS + TRAnsactions) model that Indus Valley to overcome the relatively small size of the organised enterprise market in India.
A look at two Bharat Saas plays in our portfolio @Procol_ and @ClassplusApps - Procol is layering on financing, while Classplus helps their customers sell more to their customers through a marketplace. 
What explains the rise of Indus Valley? There are 5 growth drivers underpinning its rise and impact. 
Over the last decade India has built out an exceptional public digital infra layer that is world-class in quality.
Beyond Aadhar, UPI we are seeing the base layer for health, lending, commerce emerge for private companies to build on.
Beyond Aadhar, UPI we are seeing the base layer for health, lending, commerce emerge for private companies to build on.
Onto Part III - State of the Valley 2021
What can an address line on a ecommerce delivery parcel tell you about India?
What can an address line on a ecommerce delivery parcel tell you about India?
Indus Valley's rise and evolution is shaped by the following 'Forcing Functions'. 
A closer look at EdTech. Here is how the 2 Indias reacted as COVID pushed education online. 
How the schools reacted. To their credit, barring a fifth of schools, they managed. 
Drop in Income amongst India2 meant a shift away from private to government schools. 
Now a quick look at trends, behaviours and playbooks!
Amazon makes more ad rev than Times of India newspaper!
Amazon makes more ad rev than Times of India newspaper!
India is a full stack nation. 
Dubai is India’s fastest growing startup hub, creaming off our top crypto founders. 
Crypto has the potential to leapfrog equity markets investing in India. 
Finally, we end with…
What could happen in 2030? Some bold predictions here.
What could happen in 2030? Some bold predictions here.
Thank you for reading this thread.
We stand on the shoulders of giants. Thanks in particular to all of the analysts, writers and researchers whose work we built on; in particular @RedSeer and @BainAlerts @asheth99 for the data rich reports they share.
We stand on the shoulders of giants. Thanks in particular to all of the analysts, writers and researchers whose work we built on; in particular @RedSeer and @BainAlerts @asheth99 for the data rich reports they share.
Thank you to the @blumeventures team for their feedback and inputs, esp @riashroff @swathidhamo @Kuna1Bajaj @arpiit @radhika_agar and @BKartRed
+ @arnuvjoshi for his help with the charts / inputs!
+ @arnuvjoshi for his help with the charts / inputs!
Check out the full report at bit.ly/IndusValley2022 & do RT this thread if you found it useful!
@amal_vats and I worked on this primarily. We would love your feedback. We think it is a 6-6.5/10, but it is a beginning, and we would love for it to get better with every year.
@amal_vats and I worked on this primarily. We would love your feedback. We think it is a 6-6.5/10, but it is a beginning, and we would love for it to get better with every year.
Mentions
See All
Mario Gabriele 🦊 @mariogabriele
·
Mar 27, 2022
Wonderful read.