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Technology

The Covid19 pandemic and the resultant lockdowns / quarantine made everything and everyone and go online. Work from home, study from home and just staying home ensured that everything became accessible online.

Food Tech

Though the initial lockdown adversely impacted the food delivery industry due to apprehensions of safety and health, this sector turned around quickly as the lockdown eased. Delivery services such as Zomato and Swiggy saw their revenue grow 5 times during the pandemic. Innumerable cloud kitchens sprang up across the country. The two waves of the pandemic have made consumers apprehensive of eating out. Instead, they continue to order in from the comfort of their homes.  Food tech has seen big gains.

Ed-Tech 

The lockdown has effectively kept students home bound since 2020. Education systems moved online seamlessly. Education at every stage from play groups up to research and beyond became online through various learning portals. While education through technology was already present in India for a decade prior, the pandemic accelerated the ed tech industry like never before. Online learning caters to a larger number of students at comparatively lower costs making it a convenient and economically viable option. Byjus, the first and most valuable ed tech in India is a unicorn in educational sector. Great learning, Vedantu, Toppr and other educational platforms earned phenomenal revenues during lockdown despite offering some of their services free to the students.

Online audio video conferencing 

Online audio – video conferencing is the new normal of communication. Be it a business meeting, or a family gathering, or an interview or schooling, virtual is the new real. Though service providers like Zoom were in existence nearing a decade before the Covid19 outbreak, the pandemic resulted in travel ban across the world. the only way people could connect was through audio visual services such as Zoom. Probably the biggest success story in the pandemic, Zoom’s revenue zoomed from $ 22 million to almost $ 80 million in the pandemic year alone. Despite concerns of personal data and online security, the hybrid work option that Zoom, Webex, Blue Jeans and the like offer are here to stay. The home grown Jiomeet was launched by Reliance in July 2020. The second wave of the pandemic helped it accelerate growth as it saw 25% additional volume of users added to its kitty despite the presence of players like Zoom.

Entertainment

OTT platforms

OTT really went over the top cashing in on the Covid19 induced lockdown. With nowhere to go, entertainment on OTT platforms seemed the only source of entertainment. With minimal subscription fee and unlimited viewing options, Netflix, Amazon, Hotstar, Disney, Zee, Sun and other streaming services. This form of entertainment is here to stay with analysts predicting a $ 15 billion market share for OTT by 2030. It is safe to say that Covid acted as a catalyst for the rise of OTT platforms. A hybrid form of entertainment. 

Online gaming

This sector enjoyed a staggering 50% growth in its business during the lockdown. Estimated to touch almost $ 3 billion by 2022, online gaming industry played big and won bigger during the Covid pandemic. Average gaming time of young and old increased due to stay at home restrictions. Experts are of the view that games involving real money has increased manifold. This feature is here to stay as the world slowly moves towards normal.

Healthcare

The fragile healthcare infrastructure was further stretched with the onset of Covid19 pandemic. Initially caught unawares on how to handle this unprecedented crisis, hospitals – both public and private were battered. Medical supplies, doctors and other healthcare professionals, medical devices and equipment became scarce. Yet the healthcare sector took on the invisible enemy single handed. There seemed to be a good side and a flip side to it. There were countless covid cases, but the other cases requiring medical attention dropped drastically with people staying away from hospitals for the fear of contracting the virus. PPEs suits, gloves, sanitizers, oxygens cylinders and concentrators became an essential commodity. Imports were hit as India depended on other countries such as China for its supplies and raw materials. Though medical companies have experienced dip in revenues, Indian research companies were at work 24/7 ensuring production of effective vaccines within record timelines. Be it the economics or sheer humanity, healthcare sector is a winner.   

The above sectors were but a handful that kept nations and its people going in the hope of things beginning to better. Human resilience is the clear winner.