With COVID-19 disrupting the global business world, businesses have left with no other options than diversifying into new business segments.

And now, to soften the impact of COVID-19 on revenue, many Indian startups are diversifying their businesses in multiple categories.

Talking about their position after adding multiple categories, Upasana Taku, co-founder of MobiKwik, said,

“In-store payments have gone up because card or cash is something consumers don’t want to use anymore. Our revenues were down by 35% during the COVID-19 lockdown, and are still down by 25%, but since we diversified in multiple categories, over the past years, we expect a full recovery by October.”

In the food delivery segment, unicorn Swiggy did not sit back because of COVID-19, but it doubled down onto the grocery segment. Amid COVID-19, Swiggy launched a task-management service Genie and used its idle delivery fleet to deliver orders in the grocery segment.

Talking about Swiggy and its improving financial situation, Vivek Sunder, COO of Swiggy, said,

“The food delivery business has gone through a roller-coaster, with a dynamic lockdown still continuing due to the pandemic. We are now working on consumer trust and getting consumer frequency back. But we got into all hyperlocal categories, where our expertise allowed us to exist in. Today, we have a recovering business, and it’s safe to say that things will be back to full recovery in the next 3-4 quarters.”

Diversifying their business has given these startups a chance to bounce back from this crisis fast. And, with present bounce back rates, many Indian startups, on average, are expecting to recover in 2-3 quarters.

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