'ONDC Will Open a Lot Of Opportunities For Startups' The open network for digital commerce (ONDC) will be a game changer and will allow startups to directly connect with their customers globally: Rikant Pitti, co-founder EaseMyTrip

By Shrabona Ghosh

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"With the launch of open network for digital commerce (ONDC), there are a lot of opportunities for startups to directly connect with its customers globally. I believe a lot of traction will be coming in and with the support of the government and people who have built the e-commerce industry, this is going to be a game changer," said Rikant Pitti, co-founder EaseMyTrip.

The government launched ONDC platform on Friday to end the dominance of the US companies Amazon.com and Walmart in the fast-growing e-commerce market. It will allow buyers and sellers to connect and transact with each other online, no matter what other application they use, said reports. The government document said that two large multinational players controlled more than half of the country's e-commerce trade, thereby limiting access to the market, giving preferential treatment to some sellers and squeezing supplier margins.

On IPOs

A lot of startups are now eyeing their IPO debut– FirstCry, PharmEasy, OYO, among others– are looking forward to 2022 to kick start their journey. "Quarter se quarter tak is something we use for IPOs. In India the investors have to be a little more aware that it is not always about a company displaying its profit on a quarterly basis, it's also about the future growth. I think in the future the startup ecosystem will slowly evolve on this aspect," he said.

"In order to be profitable, each company must choose its business model. You have to think whether your business model will really support the future growth of the company. Sustainable growth is a key word here," he said, adding that startups should not get deterred by not getting adequate funds. "Getting fundings is not the business. Business is what you do by giving services to your customers."

He was speaking on the sidelines of Global Unicorn Summit 2022, organized by CII Future Business Group.

Shrabona Ghosh

Correspondent

A journalist with a cosmopolitan mindset. I lead a project called 'Corporate Innovations' wherein I cover corporates across verticals and try to tell stories on innovations. Apart from this, I write industry pieces on FMCGs, auto, aviation, 5G and defense. 
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