2020 Will Be The Year of Sustainable Business The 3P problems of pollution, plastic and preservation of resources have attained epic proportions in India and need controllable measures sooner than later.

2019 has been one of the most eventful years for start-ups in many respects. More than $7.67 billion of funding was parked in Indian start-ups till Q3 2019 and the amount of seed-stage funding raised stood at $151 million, showcasing great promise with more to come and more than eight start-ups turning unicorns. 1,300 start-ups have been set up so far in 2019. If one analyses data from the last five years, this seems to be a healthy trend showing 12-15 per cent growth.

This was also the year when start-ups, like every other kind of businesses, were brought to task —whether it was Zomato, OYO or PharmEasy — everyone had their fair share of consumer spats in public domain. Building a responsible business and running a responsible enterprise both need equal measures of importance and, start-ups or SMEs, no one will be spared here.

In 2020 and forward, I foresee more businesses born out of the need for better, bigger and faster sustainability. Realising the 3P problems, any start-up that addresses this problem either as social impact or as a commercial venture will get a good hearing and will have money and access to better resources at its disposal than other kinds of businesses. While a funding winter may be predicted at large for 2020, it may be less difficult for sustainable start-ups to raise capital than for others. In our year-opening issue, we will be forecasting new funding trends, start-up opportunities and transformations that lead to bigger growth.

In our current issue, we have explored the revolutionization of fuel delivery as the fast forward opportunity in B2B sector; it could bring much relief and opportunity to take our factories and manufacturing further away from big cities. We have also put a lens on Rajasthan's start-up ecosystem and its growth drivers, establishing that with DPIIT's 2018 State Startup Ranking, it was among the top performing states in India. We have also gone beyond India to see the emerging food trends in Southeast Asia from the eyes of a food-tech company GrabFood and take a peek into Russian supermodel Natalia Vodianova's philanthropic venture. In the Franchise section, we deep dive into co-living to show how it has already become an excellent area of business interest and shed light on Bounce's aggressive plans to add electric vehicles to its fleet.

(This article was first published in the December 2019 issue of BIZ Experiences Magazine. To subscribe, click here)