The founders of multi-billion dollar startups said on Friday that the country’s financial capital is a “difficult” city, with infrastructure problems and a high cost of living.
Founder and CEO Ashish Hemrajani said the city is losing out to others due to its lack of ability to build communities, which stifles the talent of technologists, who want a better place for their children to develop, which is also cheaper. Is. Bookmyshow.
Clarifying that there are a lot of advantages, the megapolis, which is home to 20 unicorns or startups, which are worth more than USD 1 billion, Hemrajani said that we need to address the challenges facing the city so that it Make sure it remains relevant.
The 48-year-old entrepreneur, born and raised in Mumbai, said it is home to only traditional financiers, and is losing out to new-age financial services players.
Speaking at the annual summit held he said, “While the city has phenomenal advantages, it has given me everything, we still have to stretch our socks and do a lot to attract more talent and make it more livable for new businesses. have to do something.” Here by TiEcon.
Expressing similar concerns, Anupam Mittal of Shaadi.com said the cost of living is a “real challenge” for the city and suggested a way to tackle it.
Pointing to the location in the eastern part of the city, Mittal said that the government will have to take a lead in developing a ‘startup city’, courtesy of the thousands of companies that act as catalysts.
He said the government could control rents and prices for the first few years in the space, adding that global cities like Seattle have made it bigger because they are home to companies like Microsoft.
Mittal said Bengaluru, the country’s undisputed startup hub, is also facing a similar problem with rents doubling in the past few years.
A thriving startup ecosystem requires a city to be truly cosmopolitan, and Mumbai scores on this point as it is home to the creative industry, finance and health professionals, he said.
Rizwan Koita of Citistake also pointed to the infrastructure issues present in the financial capital and said that the space is becoming very competitive with other cities like Noida and Gurugram competing to be the preferred choice for startups. However, all the founders made it clear that they are not going anywhere.
Harsh Jain of fantasy sports company Dream11 said that his investors have asked the company to relocate to Bengaluru.
“We are going nowhere,” he said, adding that the spirit of the city is closest to representing entrepreneurship, where challenges are faced before a person makes it.
Siddharth Shah of the pharmacy said the city has given him everything, including his neighborhood friends, who have become co-founders for the venture, and there is no question of him leaving the suburb of Ghatkopar.