Young Turks | India’s startup story is absolutely intact, says Kunal Bahl

After a historic year of highs in 2021, stability is the mantra for Indian startups in 2022. The funding winter is fully here and is sending chills down the spines of founders, most of whom have never experienced an economic downcycle before. Now through a furious period of raising funds, expanding teams and burning cash to drive growth, it seems the hard ground is rising to meet them.

In the largest tech companies in the world, from Meta to Amazon, Microsoft and Twitter, to startups like Snap and Stripe, over 73,000 employees have been fired by the darlings of the internet era. The storm hasn't left India untouched.

More than 17,000 layoffs this year even at the most valued, most funded New Age companies like Ola, Byju's, Unacademy, Vedantu, Blinkit, and Chargebee — the list is getting longer. Adding to the pressure on recently listed startups like Nykaa, Delhivery, PB FinTech and Paytm that are seeing big investors sell stakes as the lock-in period expires.

Reducing cash burn, taking the path to profitability, turning around unit economics, downsizing to extend the capital runway these are now the phrases of a painful period that could stretch beyond the turn of 2022.

Surviving not thriving should be at the top of the mind of the founders — that’s the cautionary word coming in from entrepreneur Kunal Bahl.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18’s Shereen Bhan, Bahl said, “The India startup story is absolutely intact. I think the potential that we see in this industry in the sector or the next 10 years, I don't think there is any doubt in anyone's mind that this is going to be a really strong arc of progress and growth.”

He added, “We have gone through a frothy cycle of funding and growth and relentless hiring now we are going through a process of rationalization. However, this is a time to hunker down for founders, as well as investors who are guiding and mentoring and sitting on the boards with many of these companies. It is time to start going into mission mode in cutting operational costs, and finding those islands of profitability in the company.”