5 startup trends to look out for 2019

By Ashish Mittal

With this year coming to a close, everyone is curious about what 2019 holds for us, apart from the general elections. The year 2018 has been full of turnarounds and startup stories. It established that the startup ecosystem is gaining acceptance, and has witnessed the rise of some serious startups news. In a nutshell, the year 2018 has been good for startups.

While the year 2018 gave us an opportunity to witness and ponder upon many novel trends, it also taught us to strategize and plan for the year ahead. Now, we all want to know what are the trends that'll thrive, and what should we keep a lookout for in 2019.


Real problems, scalable solutions
An immense amount of power lies with a common man. They have the capability to make or break a revolution. The technological and digital revolution is no different. While it started off with catering to the needs of a common man, somehow, over the years, the movement has lost its perspective. While new models of smartphones are launching every week, technology is yet to solve many common problems.

The coming year should address these areas which have been ignored by the big names and create a mass impact with disruptive startup ideas. We are talking about issues as common as low availability of water, or traffic jams which can be scaled using technology.

Common is boring , we love being disruptive
Large online retailers and service providers like Flipkart, Amazon and UrbanClap etc. have become household names in the past few years. We have grown accustomed to shopping from the comfort of our homes instead of going to the shops. While comfort definitely beats the hassle of commuting to a shops or marketplace, what we have failed to notice is that many of the the big names in the online retailing and service providers still have gaps and opportunities which can be addressed digitally.

The year 2019 will see disruptive innovation in established business like online retail with ersonalisation of the shopping experience by leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning to give the shoppers an access to features as fascinating as virtual trial rooms. 2019 will be year of experiments with new age technologies such as AI/ML , Blockchain etc. which are now becoming mainstream and create new business models.

Industry specific startups
While generic solutions will continue to be built by using technology, we see huge investment on focused startups solving industry-specific challenges. Industries like Healthcare, retail, education and biotechnology hold a lot of potential.

Healthcare has always been the hotspot for new, ambitious entrepreneurs. Hopefully, the surge of new startups will still be up and about in the this sector in the upcoming year too. Medical records, telemedicine, healthcare supply chain, medical billing and insurance involve procedures which are complex for a common man hence clear candidates for startup idea and they should seize these areas which are in dire need of service providers.

Technology has already invaded our educational institutions with the digitisation of our classrooms. The extent of knowledge getting dispersed online is also expected to increase with these startups expanding beyond just video lectures and making learning and assessments more interactive.

Smart manufacturing and use of technologies like robotics and Internet of things (IoT) will see a rise. Retail and distribution are all set to leverage technologies such as blockchain in supply chain.

In the field of biotechnology, the concept of microbreweries is becoming extremely fashionable. Apart from that, agricultural kits for farmers to enhance their production of crops, production of natural/non-toxic dyes and compostable plastic etc. are some other areas which are going to see mainstream adoption.

Beyond your keyboard
Voice interfaces are taking the world by storm and entering many disciplines including banking, healthcare, education etc. Voice assistants such as Alexa and Google Home are changing the way brands and consumers interact. Therefore, it will not be surprising if we see the wave continuing in 2019. Customisable search behaviour for different members of the family is also a desirable feature. Voice notifications that will keep the user updated about things they're interested in, like sports or a cultural event is also a bankable feature and startups should delve in deeper if they want to cash-in on the opportunity that voice AI holds.

Digitisation of all your paperwork
With multiple new mobile applications emerging everyday, it won't really be a surprise if the startups catering to public with their softwares capsize the yet unexplored area of your workplace. Your days of having piled-up, disorganised files and papers containing important client data may just be over next year as many upcoming solutions are claiming to provide the perfect assistance you need in meticulously organising and managing your office data - from your employee/client information to important meeting dates in your schedule. If these apps deliver their claims, work life will become easier with these solutions dedicated to manage paperwork.

The startup culture has emerged as a strong contributing factor to the nation's economy by hosting an extremely energetic and niche work culture for the youth. And 2019 is definitely going to be a big year for the startups in our country with more innovative and fresh young minds coming up with new ideas and ventures.

(The writer is Chief Mentor and Founder of TurningIdeas Ventures, a startup Incubator based in Noida.)