Gestation period for Pune startups double as funding dries up
Investors, mentors, and startup founders observed that this gestation period has now doubled to over 24 months
As easy capital from investors is drying up, early-stage startups are feeling the pinch with their gestation period - the time taken by the startup to start showcasing results, also called as the pre-traction period - almost doubling up. Investors, mentors, and startup founders observed that this gestation period has now doubled to over 24 months.
Vineet Patni, President at TiE Pune says, “Irrespective of domain, we are seeing good companies coming up and growing in the Pune startup ecosystem. As funding is getting tough, the gestation period is longer. Earlier, getting revenue, would take between 12 and 18 months, which has now almost doubled. From startup founders’ perspective, hard work is important in the initial days and a good founder will pivot suitably and keep building business. We are hoping that the situation improves soon as Pune, continues to be an attractive destination for investments in startups. We are guiding companies to be very careful with spending. Unit economics, customer acquisition and scaling up is becoming important.”
Pune-based serial entrepreneur and founder of Mitibase Technologies, Satish Patil says, “Startups were investors’ apple of the eye till a few months ago. Fund raising was easy, and deal-making was swift. But a tsunami of global headwinds has hit the entire Indian startup ecosystem. With mounting recession fears, macroeconomic challenges, and ongoing geopolitical tensions, it seems to be a harsh and prolonged funding winter for the Indian startup ecosystem. However, the temporary slowdown of the Indian startup ecosystem is, in fact, an impetus for companies to adopt a balanced approach toward growth and profitability. Startup founders are adopting cash optimisation strategies in their business processes, such as working capital management, optimal workforce, and minimal but proven marketing spending to their utmost advantage. Founders must also focus on key metrics such as lower customer acquisition costs, higher lifetime value for customers, and high customer retention to enable revenue generation and growth.”
Shraddha Subramanian, business and Intuition Coach, says, “Funding winter is a temporary phase, and start-ups that can deal with the storm often emerge stronger, more resilient and successful. New-age entrepreneurs should have absolute clarity of vision to every stakeholder in business. They should work on operations cost, go lean, redefine business models and involve teams in decision making as this is an opportunity to really refine and redefine areas where resource utilization is not optimal and bridge the gap by involving teams.”
Abhishek Garodia, Founder at Captabl asserts, “We are at the best of times when it comes to running a startup or investing in them. Indian startups have matured immensely in the last five years. As an investor, I am seeing big opportunities in startups solving rural India problems. Agri-tech, energy, fintech, logistics, supply chain, edtech need innovative and visionary founders.”
