Startups are Emerging as Asset Class in India, Says LetsVenture founder

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
Startups in India have begun to emerge as an asset class and what is immediately required is to step up the investment support to them to keep up the trend, noted Shanti Mohan, Founder, LetsVenture.

“Lot of wealth managers don’t talk about startups as an asset class because, for them, they don’t know which startup Angel investors should invest. It’s important to understand as an investor that they should invest behind high-quality founders,” said Shanti Mohan, in her lead presentation at a workshop organized by Startup Mission (KSUM) here on Tuesday.

The workshop, “Elevate”, was held as part of the Startup Investor Education Programme for HNIs (High Networth Individuals) and potential investors, as an interactive platform for the startups and the investors to explore, connect, engage and co-invest.

The focus of the workshop, the first of a series planned by KSUM, was startups in health care sector. The second workshop in the series on deeptech will be held on November 22 (Thursday) at Cochin Palace Hotel, Ernakulam from 4pm to 7pm.

“There is a growing breadth in the Angel investment ecosystem in terms of their base location and past experience. There are 4,000 active Angel investors overall in India and no exit horizon pattern has emerged yet in India,” Shanti Mohan said.

Raghavendra, investor and former Founder of Qikwell, said technology adoption was comparatively slow in healthcare system in India, which needs to be addressed urgently to make services accessible to all and enhance their quality.

“Indian heathcare industry is $110 billion industry, growing at 22.9 per cent. The country has one of the lowest doctor-patient ratios in the world and the insurance penetration is low,” he said.

“Primary care is almost fully unorganized and availability is poor for about 60 per cent of the rural population. This is one of the biggest issues. Moreover, access to specialists is restricted to cities and large towns. Quality of care has huge variance even in metros. Technology adoption growth is still slow compared to other sectors,” Raghavendra added.

Doctors, healthcare professionals and investors attended the workshop. Startups active in the healthcare sector pitched their ideas in the workshop. P.M. Riyas, Project Director, KSUM also spoke.