From Moglix to Purplle, some of India's bestknown unicorns are becoming dynamos of innovation by harnessing it to what their customers need
Innovation is how do you bring the business process and the technology together
Illustration: Chaitanya Dinesh Surpur
Despite the crazy valuations that India’s startups saw in 2021, there is little doubt that many of those ventures with the unicorn badge are turning into genuinely valuable companies for their ability to solve real, large, and difficult problems in the market through their innovations.
The next question is, how do they keep that innovation engine humming as they seek the scale and positive cash flow needed to become long-term sustainable businesses.
In the words of one of the first-generation tech entrepreneurs in India, Nandan Nilekani, chairman of Infosys, who was quoting his boss NR Narayana Murthy, “happiness is a positive cash flow”.
Now that the time has come for the current crop of startup founders to take that mantra to heart, their ability for real innovation—when a new product/service meets strong market demand—will be tested.
Someone who seems to be passing with flying colours is Rahul Garg, founder and CEO of Mogli Labs, whose B2B marketplace Moglix is set to double its revenue to between $600 million and $700 million this year.
(This story appears in the 24 February, 2023 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)