According to Statista, the global startup economy generates nearly $3 trillion. Startups have always been the driving force behind the world market, bringing new ideas, and transforming familiar business systems. Unfortunately, the economic crisis associated with Covid-19 has not spared this area. According to the Startup Genome study, 74% of startups saw their revenues decline since the beginning of the crisis. How did the pandemic and other external factors affect the startup market and what new trends have emerged? Re-prioritization of Industries The pandemic has changed our priorities, accelerating the growth of some industries, and freezing the development of others. According to , the revenue of startups from industries such as travel & tourism, beauty & fashion, automotive, agtech has decreased by more than 30%. the Startup Genome Report Gaming, AI & Big Data, blockchain & crypto were affected less. Also this year we observed strong representation from biotechnology startups. Furthermore, the current crisis has shown the importance of digitization of the offline economy, making tech companies even more in demand. Never before has technology played such a key role in the economy. Now, in order to maintain globalization in the context of a lockdown and ensure effective communication, it is simply necessary to have a digital presence for your business. Therefore, tech companies, having lost customers, who have suspended the development of software products for their business, simply found new from other industries. The Rise of the Asia-Pacific Market One of the most exciting trends this year is the shift in the startup ecosystem. The main player in this trend is the Asia-Pacific region, where 20% of the leading ecosystems in 2012 have grown to 30% today. So, Seoul and Tokyo, Melbourne, Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Delhi took their places in the list of top global startup ecosystems. The emergence of new strong players in the market opens up new opportunities for partnership and development of the global startup market. The Asia-Pacific region is becoming home of promising new startups. The first to recover from the pandemic, this region was able to catch up with its competitors and take its place in the market. Machine Learning and AI-based Solutions The development of Machine learning and AI was not stopped by the pandemic. The use of smart technologies continues to gain traction, and startups are bold enough to offer innovative solutions. Modern business needs to process a huge amount of data and provide personalized messages for its target audience, which is why new marketing and analytical solutions are emerging. The use of AI/ML solutions is widespread through the use of chatbots, speech and image recognition, robotics, and much more. According to experts, this trend will only intensify, so now you should think about the introduction of artificial intelligence in your business. Not surprisingly, AI/ML is coming to the fore in technology source priorities. IdeaSoft's portfolio includes many AI-related projects. For example, Nexar is AI dash cam app for iPhone and Android, that instantly detects dangers on the road and provides “watch out” life-saving warnings. Or Neura, AI and ML-based platform for increasing users' engagement. Neura researches each user’s past, recognizes his or her present context and predicts future activity. Both projects are excellent cases of AI technology implementation for business tasks. New Opportunities with 5G Networks There has been a lot of talk about 5G lately. For startups, this technology will provide new opportunities for creating tech solutions that need the power of 5G. The improved internet speed will enable startups to bring their bold ideas to life. Compared to 4G's maximum speed of 150 megabits per second, devices connected to 5G will be able to move a massive one to 10 gigabits per second. Thus, 5G can provide uninterrupted access to digital tools, no matter where you are at home, in the office or on the road. According to , by 2024, there will be around 1.9 billion 5G subscriptions worldwide. Many startups are working on effective software solutions to improve the healthcare, retail, logistics industries, as well as 5G itself. Statista Forecast number of mobile 5G subscriptions worldwide from 2019 to 2024 Blockchain is Still in Demand Another technology, interest in which has not faded over the years. For the most part, blockchain continues to be used in fintech, but other industries are also looking for ways of implementing blockchain to solve various business challenges. Blockchain is attractive primarily for its main properties: transparency, security and cost efficiency. Many startups are working to create more profitable payment systems, more and more companies are using cryptocurrency. Despite some distrust of this technology, the number of crypto wallet owners is growing, and startups are not going to abandon blockchain, finding new ways to adopt it. We are talking about the use of smart contracts and the creation of cloud storage based on blockchain, as well as the creation of decentralized applications (dApps) that meet various needs and so on. Wrapping Up So, despite the uncertain economic situation, the startup market continues to develop, although its players have changed. The role of tech startups has increased in the context of a lockdown as one of the main ways to optimize various industries in a crisis. Technologies such as AI, ML, blockchain, 5G have received accelerated growth and soon we can expect the emergence of new amazing startups that will change our lives.
