The painful development of India’s startups
Time and money are running out
Investors lose faith in India’s unicorns
Jan 19th 2023 | BANGALORE
“HOW LONG is your runway before takeoff?” That is how venture capitalists (VCs) begin meetings in India these days, says Ananth Narayanan, founder of Mensa, one of the country’s newest unicorns (companies worth in excess of $1bn). Until recently the main question that mattered for India’s startup scene was valuation. But the mood has changed. Plunging share prices at companies that have gone public have made VC firms much warier about investing. Prizing unrealistic valuations has given way to worrying about how quickly startups might begin to make money. So far Mensa, which buys stakes in digital brands, is one of a handful of such firms that makes a profit.
takeoff
n. 起飞
scene
n. 现场, 景象, 情景, 景色,事件
valuation
n. 评估, 评价, 估值, （专业）估价
Plunge
v. （使）突然向前倒下[跌落]；价格、比率等〕暴跌，骤降；〔船〕猛烈地颠簸
n. 突降；俯冲；〔价格、价值等的〕骤降；突然卷入；跳水；〔短时间的〕游泳
Prize
n. 奖, 奖品, 奖金, 奖赏
adj. 好得足以得奖的, 应获奖的, 优秀的, 典范性的
v. 珍视, 高度重视
“起飞前的跑道有多长?”印度最新的独角兽公司(市值超过10亿美元的公司)之一门萨(Mensa)的创始人Ananth Narayanan说，这就是风投们最近在印度开会的方式。直到最近，对印度初创企业来说最重要的问题还是估值。但人们的情绪已经发生了变化。上市公司股价的暴跌使得风投公司在投资时更加谨慎。对不切实际的估值的重视已经让位于对初创公司可能多快开始赚钱的担忧。到目前为止，门萨(Mensa)是为数不多的几家盈利公司之一，该公司收购了数字品牌的股份。
That leaves plenty that do not. Since the beginning of 2021, the number of unicorns created in India has risen from 40 to 108. Only America and China have produced more. In 2021 promising startups had no trouble finding investors eager to fund fast-growing firms with big ideas. That year investment in startups tripled to $35bn. The momentum continued in 2022, with $3.7bn invested in March alone. Such was the clamour that startups had their pick of “founder friendly” investors who were not too bothered about supervision, the drudgery of background checks and other intrusive oversight.
momentum
n. 动量, 势头, 动力, 推进力
clamour
n. 吵闹, 喧闹声, 嘈杂声, 民众的要求
v. 大声（或吵闹）地要求, （尤指乱哄哄地）大声地喊叫
drudgery
n. 单调乏味的苦差事, 繁重无聊的工作
intrusive
adj. 侵入的, 闯入的, 侵扰的, 烦扰的
oversight
n. 监督,照管；疏忽, 失察, 忽略, 负责
还有很多公司没有。自2021年初以来，印度独角兽公司的数量从40家增加到108家。只有美国和中国的产量更高。2021年，有前途的初创公司毫不费力地找到了渴望为有大想法的快速增长的公司提供资金的投资者。那一年，创业公司获得的投资增加了两倍，达到350亿美元。这一势头在2022年继续保持，仅3月份就有37亿美元的投资。创业公司有他们自己选择的“对创始人友好”的投资者，这些投资者不太担心监管、背景调查的苦差事和其他侵入性的监管。
The environment has since cooled. Investment in December was only $900m. One reason is the woeful performance of firms that went public in 2021: Zomato (food delivery), Freshworks (enterprise software), Paytm (payments), Policy Bazaar (insurance) and Nykaa (fashion). The share prices of each has tumbled in excess of 59%. And while a global rout in tech valuations has coincided with a broader sell-off, that is not true of India. The Sensex, an index of the country’s biggest 30 firms, is close to an all-time high and the economy is growing at a decent clip.
woeful
adj. 糟糕的, 严重的, 不合意的, 悲惨的
tumble
v. 跌倒, 摔倒, 倒塌, 绊倒,垮台
n. 摔倒, 跌跤; 骤降; 混乱的一团
decent
adj. 得体的; 适当的; 体面的; 正派的; 过得去的, 尚可的, 还好的; 合乎地位的, 像样的
环境已经冷却下来。去年12月的投资仅为9亿美元。其中一个原因是2021年上市的公司表现糟糕:Zomato(送餐)、Freshworks(企业软件)、Paytm(支付)、Policy Bazaar(保险)和Nykaa(时尚)。这两家公司的股价跌幅都超过了59%。尽管全球科技股估值暴跌与更广泛的抛售同时发生，但印度的情况并非如此。由印度最大的30家公司组成的Sensex指数接近历史最高水平，印度经济正以相当快的速度增长。
The poor performance means that other planned listings, such as that of PharmEasy, an online pharmacy, will not now go ahead. Acquisitions have been similarly hit. In October the $4.7bn purchase of BillDesk by PayU, both profitable payments companies, was cancelled. PayU’s owner Prosus, a local VC firm affiliated to Naspers, a Dutch-South African company, is widely believed to have walked away because the fall in Paytm’s share price created a new, and far lower, benchmark for what a payments company is worth.
pharmacy
n. 药房, 药店, 药剂学, 医药柜台
Acquisition
n. (技能、习惯或品质的)习得, 培养; (一家公司对另一家公司的) 收购; 资产获得, 获得物
benchmark
n. 基准, 水准点, 标准检查程序, 水准标
v. 用基准问题测试
这种糟糕的表现意味着，其他计划中的上市，如在线药店PharmEasy的上市，现在将无法进行。收购也受到了类似的打击。去年10月，PayU以47亿美元收购BillDesk的交易被取消，这两家公司都是盈利的支付公司。PayU的所有者Prosus是一家荷兰-南非合资公司Naspers旗下的当地风投公司，外界普遍认为，该公司之所以退出Paytm，是因为Paytm股价的下跌创造了一个新的、低得多的支付公司价值基准。
Re-evaluating what startups might be worth is now the foremost concern of all India’s VC firms. Funding hinges on assessing reserves, costs and the time needed to become profitable. In theory, this sort of information is available for all Indian firms because they are required to file public financial statements. But the system operates poorly. Of the 40 startups that have filed results for 2022 only three are profitable, according to Tracxn, a statistical service, and based on their annual spending, only five have enough cash to survive for over six months (see charts).
hinge
n. 铰链，合叶
v. 给…装上铰链
重新评估创业公司的价值是所有印度风投公司最关心的问题。融资取决于对储量、成本和盈利所需时间的评估。从理论上讲，所有印度公司都可以获得这类信息，因为他们被要求提交公开的财务报表。但是这个系统运行得很糟糕。根据统计服务公司Tracxn的数据，在提交了2022年业绩报告的40家初创公司中，只有3家是盈利的，根据它们的年度支出，只有5家有足够的现金生存6个月以上(见图表)。
In response to the tougher environment, costs are being cut. Inc42, an online publication tracking startups, counts 20,500 layoffs over the past year, probably foreshadowing a much bigger wave. Edtech has been especially hard hit, with 16 companies axing over 8,000 employees, the most coming at Byju, India’s most valuable startup, which is sacking 2,500 employees. A post-lockdown return to classrooms and low barriers to creating educational material online has raised doubts about the entire sector’s prospects.
layoff
n. 临时解雇, 操作停止, 活动停止期间
foreshadow
v. 预示, 是…的预兆
为了应对更加严峻的环境，企业正在削减成本。追踪创业公司的在线出版物Inc42统计，去年有20500人被裁员，这可能预示着一波更大的裁员潮。教育科技公司受到的打击尤其严重，有16家公司裁员超过8000人，其中印度最有价值的初创公司Byju裁员最多，裁员2500人。封锁后重返课堂，在线制作教育材料的门槛较低，这让人们对整个行业的前景产生了怀疑。
Byju has other problems. It was accused in July of inappropriately aggressive accounting and sales policies, which it denies. Other startups have also come under fire. BharatPe (payments), Trell (social media) and Zilingo (supply-chain management) saw founders quit last year after fraud accusations. BharatPe’s founder denies the allegations as does Trell; Zilingo is investigating the claims. On January 18th Amit Bhasin, a co-founder of GoMechanic, a car-repair firm, admitted to “errors in judgment as we followed growth at all costs, particularly in regard to financial reporting, which we deeply regret” after it cut 70% of its workers.
aggressive
adj. 侵略性的；好斗的；有进取心的；有闯劲的；激进的
fraud
n. 骗子, 欺诈罪, 欺骗罪, 行骗的人
accusation
n. 控告, 起诉, 告发, 谴责
allegation
n. 断言, 宣称; 主张; 辩解; 指控
Byju还有其他问题。今年7月，该公司被指控采取不恰当的激进会计和销售政策，但该公司对此予以否认。其他创业公司也受到了抨击。去年，BharatPe(支付)、Trell(社交媒体)和Zilingo(供应链管理)的创始人因欺诈指控而辞职。BharatPe的创始人和特雷尔都否认了这些指控;Zilingo正在调查这些说法。1月18日，汽车维修公司GoMechanic的联合创始人Amit Bhasin在公司裁员70%后承认“我们在不惜一切代价追求增长的过程中做出了错误的判断，特别是在财务报告方面，对此我们深感遗憾”。
These tribulations have brought the role of backers into question. Were firms sufficiently monitored? Were valuations credible? Sequoia Capital, a prominent Silicon Valley firm, has invested in GoMechanic, BahratPe, Trell, Zilingo and several edtech companies. It acknowledged in April the governance issues in various holdings and vowed to provide stricter oversight but has declined to comment further. Other foreign VC firms are rethinking how they approach India, too. A more diligent approach may be required.
tribulation
n. 苦难, 磨难, 忧患, 痛苦
sufficiently
adv. 足以, 十分, 充分地, 最大限度地
diligent
adj. 孜孜不倦的, 勤勉的, 刻苦的
这些磨难让投资者的角色受到了质疑。企业是否得到了充分的监控?估值可信吗?硅谷著名公司红杉资本(Sequoia Capital)已经投资了GoMechanic、BahratPe、Trell、Zilingo和几家教育科技公司。今年4月，该公司承认多家控股公司存在治理问题，并誓言将提供更严格的监督，但拒绝进一步置评。其他外国风投公司也在重新考虑如何进入印度市场。可能需要一种更勤奋的方法。
How companies come to market is also set to change in response to the losses from public offerings. India’s stockmarket regulator made changes in September that will enable far greater scrutiny. It will force firms to provide information on the prices of private transactions that occurred before listings, as well as the key data used to derive valuations. Large investors will also be required to hold at least half of their shares through at least one accounting period to stop them selling shares during a spell of hype after an offering.
scrutiny
n. 仔细检查; 认真彻底的审查; 监视, 监督
transaction
n. 交易，生意；处理，办理
spell
v. 用字母拼，拼写，拼出，拼作；招致；暂时代替；稍事休息；导致
n. （持续的）一段时间, （干某事或在某处工作的）一段时间, 咒语, 符咒, 魅力
hype
n. （电视、广播等中言过其实的）促销广告
v. 夸张地宣传（某事物）
公司上市方式也将改变，以应对公开发行的亏损。印度股市监管机构在9月份进行了改革，这将使更严格的审查成为可能。它将迫使公司提供上市前私人交易的价格信息，以及用于得出估值的关键数据。大型投资者还将被要求在至少一个会计期间持有至少一半的股票，以防止他们在新股发行后的炒作期出售股票。
These changes may not head off the carnage to come. Anand Lunia of India Quotient, a VC firm in Bangalore, believes a quarter to half of the current unicorns will become zombie firms that will exist in name but cease to be funded or operate. His willingness to speak openly is unusual; his views are not. Yet for all the concerns about the immediate future, neither Mr Lunia nor many others who think sharp devaluations are coming are pessimistic about the long-term for startups. The economy is growing strongly and India is good at nurturing entrepreneurial software engineers whose skills increasingly apply in every industry. All of this suggests that the storm ahead will be followed by a resumption of growth, eventually.■
head off
phrase. 上前拦住 (使退回或转变方向),拦截
phrase. 转移…的思想 (或注意力);阻止,防止…发生
carnage
n. 大屠杀
zombie
n. 僵尸, 怪人
sharp
adj. 锋利的, 锐利的, 尖的, （变化）急剧的, （语言）尖刻的
adv. （用于表时间的词语后，表示准时）…整, 向左╱向右急转, 偏高音地
n. 升号, 锐利的东西（如针、注射器等）
v. 磨, 诈欺, 磨利, 磨快
pessimistic
adj. 悲观的, 悲观主义的
nurture
v. 培养, 养育, 养护, 支持
n. 培养, 养育
entrepreneurial
adj. 创业, 企业家的
resumption
n. 恢复, 重新开始, 继续进行
这些变化可能无法阻止即将到来的大屠杀。班加罗尔风投公司India Quotient的Anand Lunia认为，目前四分之一到一半的独角兽公司将变成僵尸公司，名存实亡，但停止融资或运营。他愿意公开发言是不同寻常的;但他的观点并非如此。然而，尽管人们对近期的未来感到担忧，但无论是卢尼亚还是其他许多认为货币将大幅贬值的人，都对初创企业的长期发展持悲观态度。印度经济增长强劲，擅长培养具有创业精神的软件工程师，这些工程师的技能越来越适用于各个行业。所有这些都表明，在风暴过后，经济最终将恢复增长。■
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