Slowing economy an opportunity for start-ups

Khosla, Nilekani see apps built around healthcare, education and Aadhaar as a key innovation opportunity 

First Published: Thu, Sep 05 2013. 12 23 AM IST

 

New Delhi: Problems associated with India’s slowing economy and persisting governance issues can present unlikely opportunities for start-ups, primarily in healthcare and education, according to star information technology (IT) entrepreneurs Vinod Khosla and Nandan Nilekani.

Khosla, who co-founded Sun Microsystems, and Nilekani, co-founder of Infosys Ltd, were in a discussion on emerging opportunities for start-ups on Wednesday.

Over the next 5-10 years, the use of new and smarter technologies in education and healthcare is expected to grow the possibilities for start-ups and lead to the creation of an IT-enabled low friction economy.

“The next big area of innovation will be mobile health, which can provide healthcare services at a fraction of the (current) cost, skipping a generation of devices,” said Khosla.

“The difference is the GPS tells you where am I and Aadhaar ID will tell you who I am. It will provide whole new platform for building apps.”

Khosla said using Aadhaar IDs for apps could solve many of the problems that start-ups face

VIJAY KUMAR YADAV - PGDM 1ST SEM