Startup Events This Week: Inc42 AMAs, F&B Webinar By Fireside And More

Last week, Inc42 hosted Paytm’s Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Sequoia India’s GV Ravishankar, Indifi’s Alok Mittal, ixigo’s Aloke Bajpai and Rajnish Kumar in its ‘Ask Me Anything’ series.

The Ask Me Anything series is a part of Inc42’s #StartupsVsCovid19 campaign, under which we are looking to highlight impact and opportunities arising out of the Covid-19 pandemic. Besides this, the series would also focus on essentials that the startups need to keep in mind to keep their businesses up and running.

Talking to Inc42 founder Vaibhav Vardhan, Paytm’s founder Sharma spoke about the shift from offline to online as well as changes in the fintech market that will be apparent in the post-Covid-19 world. He noted that lending will emerge as one of the biggest fintech sectors.

“Companies that swing around to the opportunity of distributing unsecured loans and collecting them well and underwriting them well will become the champions of tomorrow,” Sharma added.

Tune in to watch the entire webinar here.

On the other hand, the tour and travel industry is going to be hit severely with this lockdown and the Covid-19 pandemic. Bajpai and Kumar, founders of ixigo, highlighted that their operations started sinking since the second week of March and that’s when the company also started focusing on a ‘Plan B’ to make the business survive this crisis. The duo also advised other startups in the segment to make plans for the future.

Bajpai believes that coronavirus will leave a lasting impact on the travel sector. It will change the way people look at and feel about travel, similar to what happened after 9/11.

Meanwhile, Sequoia Capital India’s managing director GV Ravishankar highlighted the scope of investments in the Covid ridden world. Ravishankar said that there will be a slump in the growth-stage investments (Series B and Series C), whereas the early-stage rounds will dry up as the investors would turn their focus on making their companies survive.

3one4 Capital’s founding partner Siddarth Pai and Lightbox Ventures’ Siddharth Talwar had similar views to share about the investment scenarios in India.

Amid all this business and investment talk, Indifi founder Mittal’s conversation also focused on the vision to mobilise the community. Mittal, along with Udhyam founder Mekin Maheshwari, started off the ‘StartupsVsCovid-19’ to bring the startup community together. The initiative was started off with four founding members in mid-March, but has now grown over to include more than 1000 people.

“I think this is a testament to the Indian startup community which obviously wants to create wealth for themselves and their companies but are also equally responsible and participants in a crisis like this,” Mittal added. 

As we step into a new week, here’s a list of upcoming events:

Putting People First

With the global lockdown, low revenue and mounting costs, the Covid-19 crisis has taken a toll on small businesses and startups. In an attempt to guide such business through the tough times, the commerce and industry ministry, Startup India and Invest India are organising a webinar to discuss effective policies for employees during this crisis.

The webinar will be held by Shruti Dvivedi and Satyendra Shrivastava, partners at Khaitan Legal Associates.

Talking Points:

• Consequences: drawing on existing cash flow or threat of bankruptcy.
• Mitigation: Insurance, training and efficient use of tools/ travels to preserve relationships and update internal controls. The payments to contractors and the road ahead.
• Remunerations and Retrenchment Policies: Reviewing policies, ensuring compliance with regulations.
• Work Environment: Contactless collaboration and remote working
• Enablers: Collaboration tools, clear communication, efficient time use and training
• Risks:  Control or check, cyber and relationship

Who Should Attend: Entrepreneurs
Date: April 21, 2020
Time: 2 PM
Venue: Virtual Event

F&B Startups – Striving and Thriving in the COVID World

TiE Delhi, in collaboration with Fireside Ventures, is hosting ‘Striving and Thriving in the COVID World’ webinar for food and beverage startups that have been suffering due to the lockdown.

Talking Points: 

• The role of ecommerce players and the opportunities they bring in
• Activating direct-to-consumer (D2C) channels
• Strengthening supply chain, which gets disrupted easily
• Steps taken by other companies
• The changes in the consumer behavior
• Investment scenario in F&B sector in post-Covid world

Who Should Attend: Entrepreneurs in F&B Sector
Date: April 23, 2020
Time: 11 AM
Venue: Virtual Event

Embrace Uncertainties. Ignite Change.

Edtech startup upGrad is hosting Infosys’s cofounder and chairman Nanadan Nilekani to discuss the scope of innovation in the battle against Covid-19. In a scheduled conversations with upGrad cofounder Ronnie Screwvala, Nilekani would also talk about the best practices top opt for in the time of uncertainties.

Who Should Attend: Entrepreneurs, Investors, Tech Enthusiasts
Date: April 22, 2020
Time: 4 PM
Venue: Virtual Event

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