India is home to the third largest startup ecosystem in the world. The number of  DPIIT– recognized startups stands at a colossal 1,17,254 as on 31st December 2023 – an impressive 40 percentage growth from the previous year! While these numbers speak of a flourishing ecosystem, there is a contrasting reality. As much as 9 out of 10 startups fail globally, according to various reports. In India, 80-90 percent of the startups do not make it past the first five years! 

Yet, India has some of the glorious success stories from the startup community. So, what really makes a startup tick? It’s a ‘billion-dollar’ question, considering that startups in India collectively raise a few billion dollars in funding every year. 

To understand the nuances of building a successful startup, CIO Dimension caught up with this young entrepreneur in Bengaluru – the startup capital of India. Yuvaraj Thanikachalam, Founder & CEO of Kreatorverse – a startup venture studio, is anything but a typical Bengaluru startup founder. His company is on a mission to guide promising startups through the often-treacherous path to success and profitability. 

Building on Web3 for the future

Yuvaraj emphasizes that startups need more than just a good product and funding to thrive in the market.

“New venture building exercise requires experimental infrastructure (lab), scientific methodology, entrepreneurial (tech & business savvy) talent, and seed capital. It is super rare to find all of them in one place. Building such an organization for a new venture founder or investor takes years of investment. It is a real big problem for Indian startup founders and investors,” says Yuvaraj. 

A good product is often just the beginning; enduring in a dynamic market is the real test for startups, he observes. 

The venture studio works with early stage startups and serial entrepreneurs to help them build products that stay relevant for a sustained period. With a strong foundation in finance and blockchain, Yuvaraj believes Web3 is the future. So far, Kreatorverse has worked with over 20 startups to build Web3 software products by applying proven methodologies and technologies. The company’s clientele include fintech startups, neobanks, digital banks, private wealth management firms, alternate investment companies, and social media startups. 

All of these startups in the financial services sector stand to benefit hugely with Web3. The primary socio-economic impact pursued by fintech is financial inclusion. Inclusive, neutral, democratic internet infrastructure is a must for global financial inclusion, which is a sustainable development goal. Decentralized finance (DeFi) and real-world assets-backed tokenized economies are the best ways to do it, Yuvaraj says. 

The right blend of technology and business 

So, is Kreatorverse providing just the “staffing” for these startups? Yuvaraj maintains that the company goes much beyond that. Building a product requires more than just the software development understanding. It’s not just about the programming tools and skills. It’s about empathy for the customer and business. Software is not a standalone entity in a tech-first venture, it’s the core of the business, he adds. 

“Just imagine, customers have no incentives for staying with a product for long. Their decisions are influenced strongly by the experience they have with a software or an app. Hence, building each customer touchpoints with experiential value is critical for startups. And that experience is the differentiation for a customer to choose a product. We help startups create this differentiation.” 

The company optimizes innovation outcomes by blending business acumen with technological expertise. They establish a solid foundation through design thinking, innovation frameworks, and diverse problem-solving approaches. This method drives innovation and enables the creation of distinctive products within their studio. Kreatorverse guides businesses from concept to proof of value within 4 to 6 months, says Yuvaraj. 

He observes that Web3 startup co-founders often navigate regulatory and compliance landscapes blindly due to their limited understanding of traditional finance and capital markets. Kreatorverse also offers an added advantage by combining expertise in both Web3 and traditional markets.

“Our goal is to minimize the risk of failure and significantly increasing the rate of business success for startups,” sums up Yuvaraj. 

The post From Idea to Impact: Kreatorverse’s Formula for Startup Success appeared first on CIO Dimension.

Web 3.0 has been hailed as the future of Internet. Making a case for Web 3.0, Ethereum co-founder Gavin Wood once said: “Centralization is not socially tenable long-term, and government is too clumsy to fix things,” while calling the current web a “big baby” which “has grown old without growing up”. 

Web3 is considered to be a disruptor in that sense, which marks a shift away from large platforms that centralized control. With its core focus on decentralization and blockchain technology, Web 3.0 or simply Web3 promises to democratize the internet. “Web3 innovations will take the internet into new realms and give rise to applications not previously possible,” said Avivah Litan, Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner. 

Globally, Web 3 market has been booming, with the Web3 blockchain technology sector estimated to surpass six trillion dollars and continue its growth at a CAGR of 44.6% from 2023 to 2030 (Market Research Future). Closer home in India, Web3 received $30.5 Bn of VC funding in 2021 alone, and over $14.5 Bn in just Q1 of 2022, led by investments in DeFi and NFTs, according to Nasscom. The association estimates that there are more than 450 Web3 startups in India, as of H12022. 

While figures certainly paint a positive picture, skepticism towards Web3 has been high in the recent past. Pundits like Peter Schiff has implied that cryptocurrencies, which is one of the building blocks of web 3, will extinct. 

Nevertheless, experts argue that it’s too early to predict the end of this revolutionary technology. “This industry will not be defined by speculative booms and busts but instead by what it is built on: revolutionary technology that will eventually touch all of our corporations, governments and individual lives,” wrote Jordan Calinoff, VP, Strategy and Revenue at Horizen Labs in a blog for Nasdaq. He believes that 2023 will see more Web3 enterprise adoption. 

Experts also re-emphasize the fact the Web3 is not crypto and the potential of this technology should not be decided by the volatile nature of cryptocurrencies. Interestingly, the Indian start-up ecosystem that focuses on Web3 are in fact focusing less on cryptocurrency trading. 

A Nasscom report says that Indian startups are instead focusing on building diverse solutions across major application areas such as finance, entertainment, infrastructure and decentralized communities. Non-fungible Token (NFT) and Metaverse are the top horizontal use cases that are seeing faster adoption at this stage. 

In the entertainment sector, for instance, startups are combining NFTs and gaming to offer whole new experiences to consumers. In the finance sector, web3 and smart contracts have already made waves in the form of DeFi. 

Web3 will however need to overcome regulatory and privacy challenges and evolve into a more seamless technology that can offer holistic customer experience. Security and fraud will emerge as other major concerns. But as with any disruptive technology, Web3 too holds the potential to transform industries and businesses.

The post Is Web 3.0 a passing fad for the enterprises? appeared first on CIO Dimension.