Roma Priya is a lawyer and one of my dear acquaintances in India. She runs a venture focused boutique practice – Burgeon Bizsupport LLP. Bizsupport is a ‘one-stop support system’ of services for entrepreneurs and investors, that provides cost-effective, experienced and reliable legal advice as well as customized business solutions. Bizsupport represents both early/growth stage startups and investors (HNIs/Angel networks/Funds) who invest in the startup ecosystem. Since the incorporation in October, 2015 – Roma’s Bizsupport has structured over 100 venture financing transactions.
These are her thoughts on the future business development in India.
What do you feel is most exciting right now with India’s business culture?
“I would say the two most exciting and noticeable things with regard to India’s business culture are the investor’s willingness to back young founders and the disruption of conventional businesses through technology.
In recent years, India has emerged as one of the top three countries globally in terms of the number of new businesses founded – driven by factors such as massive funding, consolidation activities and evolving technology. The availability of external capital and the favorable market conditions have provided a conductive environment for entrepreneurship and unlike the past, lots of Indians are looking at entrepreneurship as a viable option as opposed to regular employment. “
Who are most commonly starting new businesses in India – foreign investors or Indians themselves?
“According to the NASSCOM report, the number of tech startups in India is expected to grow by 10-12% to over 4,750 by the end of 2016. Most of these businesses are being started by Indians themselves. We are also noticing that lots of qualified Indians living abroad are moving back to India to start their own venture. However, India businesses and founders are attracting a lot of foreign capital. At Burgeon – we have structured various investments through the foreign direct investment route for investors residing or having investing entities based out of US, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan and Mauritius.”
What are your beliefs about the future?
“India is on the threshold of major reforms and is poised to become one of the largest economies in the world. The Government of India’s initiatives such as “Startup India”, “Make in India” and policies supporting ease of doing business in the country promises to go a long way in making India an economic powerhouse. The recent demonetization drive has given a massive boost to the adoption of digital payments and mushrooming of financial technology startups in India. The infrastructure and technology advancement, and internet penetration which is increasing at a high rate, will only help making the future bright. As per the NASSCOM report, India will become home to over 10,500 startups by 2020, employing over 2,100,000 people.”
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