Why startups should build in the City that Never Sleeps

Anyone who loves Mumbai will always say that Mumbai is not just a city; it’s an emotion, an ethos, a tapestry woven with the dreams and aspirations of millions.

Amidst the towering skyscrapers of Bandra, the colonial charm of Colaba, and the sweeping vista of the Arabian Sea from Marine Drive, one can find the earliest seeds of entrepreneurship—from the pioneering ventures of the Tata Group, to the towering empire of Reliance.

Mumbai—Bombay, for those who claim the city as their own—was the land of business and businessmen even before an ecosystem evolved. The city boasts of the country’s largest stock exchange, houses multinational corporations such as Reliance, Tata, Aditya Birla, Mahindra, is home to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), and is the headquarters of the Hindi film industry, Bollywood.

“Mumbaikars have always had a dhanda mindset; it’s in the culture,” said Dhruvil Sanghvi, Founder of LogiNext, speaking at the second edition of TechSparks Mumbai, India’s biggest startup-tech event.

Pointing out the difference between building a startup in Mumbai versus building elsewhere, Sanghvi said Mumbaikars are a capital-focussed bunch.

“When I go to Bangalore today, all I meet is tech junta, and that’s why Bangalore startups struggle with revenue or business mindset because they just talk to like-minded people and not the real world outside their tech bubbles,” he said.

Sanghvi is originally from Ahmedabad, but built his SaaS-based delivery automation business out of Mumbai where he says he felt he could get better human capital.

“You don’t have to train Mumbaikars to think customers or revenue or profits…it’s in the culture…And when I now hear about capital efficiency and profitability being the “in” thing in the last 18 months, I feel surprised because why is that even a new thing,” he added.

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Echoing his sentiments around what makes Mumbai the ultimate playground for entrepreneurs who dare to dream big, Harsh Jain, Co-founder & CEO of Dream11 and Dream Sports, said, when they were setting up TEAM—Tech Entrepreneurs Association of Mumbai—he asked how many of the 50 startups in the room were profitable or had been profitable for some time.

“70% of the companies raised their hands,” he quipped.

“Sure, Bangalore is ahead of Mumbai today in terms of tech startups, valuations, buzz and noise, but Mumbai builds solid businesses,” he said, a hat tip to the plethora of businesses that make up the nooks and crannies of the city and have built without any external capital.

A huge advantage of building in Mumbai also is that most of the large corporates are based in the city, and for startups, this can mean partnerships and deals vital to their operations, said Neeraj Roy, Founder and CEO of Hungama Digital Media Entertainment Pvt Ltd.

In fact, traditionally run conglomerates today are building themselves like startups by not just infusing digital into their core DNA, but also adopting the nimbleness of a startup.

“If businesses weren’t built with a digital-first DNA, they are in rooms today architecting that for themselves. Every organisation today is looking to build a startup culture in their company, and even though some industries have weaned out of Mumbai, the foundation is still here,” said Hungama Digital Media Entertainment’s Roy.

Finally, if the marriage of the old with the new wasn't a compelling reason to move to Mumbai, Roy asserts that Mumbai, once the bastion of traditional capital, is now eagerly exploring new investment horizons, with the burgeoning Indian startup ecosystem standing out as a prime opportunity.

“We like to say in Mumbai that we don’t have any winters… there are only summers in Mumbai, and the summers are only going to get longer,” he added.