70% of Startups Have Taken a Hit Due to COVID-19: FICCI Survey

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(Photo: The Quint)

A survey of 250 startups conducted by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) along with Indian Angel Network (IAN) has showed that 70 percent of the startups surveyed have reported a “negative impact on business” due to COVID-19.

Only 16 percent reported a growth in business, while 14 percent said that there had been no impact on business.

12 percent of the startups have reported a shutting down of their operations because of the pandemic.

Of the respondents in the survey, 22 percent startups were from the healthcare sector, 15 percent from manufacturing, 11 percent from IT and 11 percent from agriculture.

While 16 percent reported a growth in business, 14 percent said there had been no impact on their operations and business. 28 percent of the startups that responded said that they were operating at full capacity.

Only 7 percent of the startups said they had enough cash reserves to bear the organisation’s fixed costs for a year post lockdown (since 24 March), while 38 percent said they only had enough to last one to three months.

Here are some of the key findings of the study:

• 18 percent reported having laid off staff during the pandemic
• 39 percent implemented salary cuts of 21-40 percent
• 23 percent said there had been a salary cut of 41-60 percent
• 33 percent startups said the investor had put the deal on hold
• 10 percent startups said that their deals had fallen though