Sectors such as Edtech have been one of the highest beneficiaries from the pandemic, says Ankit Kedia, Founder and Lead Investor, Capital A. He pointed out that the COVID-19 has forced people of all age groups to adopt new age technology at a very fast pace.
In an exclusive interaction with MyBigPlunge, Kedia said a lot of companies have also taken bold steps to infuse AI and ML in their products and consumers are also not shying away from reciprocating.
Since the advent of COVID-19 pandemic, the world has adopted new-age technology at an unprecedented level unlike never before. What are your views on this?
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced people of all age groups to adopt new age technology at an accelerated speed, due to lack of any other option. People who were used to buying fresh groceries every alternate day have created a belief in their mind that it is indeed possible to get the same freshness at your doorstep. Similarly, brands and start-ups have realized that there needs to be an online presence for every offline solution they are offering to their customers. Many legacy brands and business houses too have realized that technology adoption is no longer a trade of new age startups but also critical to their own success.
Sectors such as Ed-Tech, logistics, and SAAS have seen the rise of new technologies with upgrades in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and chatbots to make customer service interactive. By 2025, do you think there would be more advancement in technologies than what we have today?
Sectors such as Edtech have been one of the highest beneficiaries from the pandemic as schools, teachers and students had to immediately switch to online ecosystem. While some of the solutions are definitely sustainable, many of them will be faced with challenges as schools start reopening. Other sector like logistics and SaaS were further propelled due to the pandemic and will continue to see massive growth in the coming years. A lot of companies have also taken bold steps to infuse AI and ML in their products and consumers are also not shying away from reciprocating. For example, at Capital-A, we have evaluated more than 25 investment opportunities over the last month in conversational AI and automation space. I have no doubt in my mind that by 2025, we will see a completely different post pandemic world which is more tech friendly than ever and a paradigm shift in the way people adopt new technologies.
Technology is also expensive and beyond reach if funding is not available. Should more funding or capital be made available? How? Please elaborate.
In my view, there is an abundance of capital available for tech startups as long as they are solving meaningful problems and have visibility of scale. It is a matter of reaching the right set of investors who have a tech theme and resources to help the founders scale the business. Every VC around the world will aspire to get a share of the success stories of tech startups even if it means there is a tech-enabled solution of a larger sector. Funds like Accel Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia and some Indian VCs like Nexus Venture Partners, India Angel Network, Elevation Capital actively invest in tech startups. There are many accelerators and incubation programs including Tech Stars, Axilor and other academic level programs that enable founders to start the journey from scratch.
Since 2020, there has been growing funding and investments in tech-oriented startups such as fintech, crypto, or edtech. What is your take on this?
Sectors like Edtech, Fintech, and Crypto are high momentum in nature and there is a lot of interest from the investors therein. Sometimes this can also lead to enormous valuation inflations and unrealistic goals for the founders. Having said that, they will continue to thrive in the post pandemic era and attract VC capital. At Capital-A, we have come up with our own momentum themes including Fintech, Crypto, Creator Economy, Social Commerce, Medtech and EV adjacencies.
Do you think technology is pushing manpower to the corner? Please elaborate
Technology can never replace manpower and this has been proven time and time again right from the industrial revolution to the current age of “everything automated”. Yes, the spurt of AI will reduce the number of routine and repeatable jobs. However, it will give human beings extra time to concentrate on creativity and innovation. For example, there is a significant rise in demand for data scientists and digital marketing. However, if the data center is able to process communication, connections and other day to day tasks, it will free up a lot of bandwidth for regular people. Another example could be that when the consumer visits a restaurant, they look for an experience which includes interaction with the staff or even chef at times. For instance, in Japan, many restaurant owners are coming up with “Kaiten-zushi”, a restaurant where plates are placed on a rotating conveyer belt and move fast through every table, counter and seat. This is RFID enabled and eliminates the need of a large team of staff because 80% of the menu is fixed. Hence, automation is here to stay and so is human capital. Both will co-exist in a highly efficient ecosystem in the future.
Has the face of funding companies changed? Please elaborate.
Yes, the company’s style and thesis of funding has changed as more and more investors look to invest in meaningful startups and founders who are ready to hustle instead of a spray and pray approach in a pre-pandemic era. Although there are funds that continue to adopt this approach, they have become a lot more mindful about profitability, scalability and corporate governance.
Also Read: South Korea to deploy new-age technology to track COVID-19 infections
What is your overall outlook?
Technology has permeated every sector today and increased the opportunity for startups in the sector to look for meaningful investments. The outlook is bright and AI (artificial intelligence) in combination with HI (human intelligence) will pave the way in the future. Despite the pandemic and its associated challenges, the future looks promising with the sunshine sectors gearing up for good progress. Things are changing rapidly and on a very positive note overall.
Capital A leverages a startup’s journey of ideation, fundraising, product validation, team building and grit to help them stay on track. The company goes above and beyond to ensure success for startups and help them with a strong network of national and global resources to use for their own networking, domain-specific insights or graduate to the next round of fundraising.
