Innovative and Technology-Led Strategies Adopted by Start-ups in India during COVID-19 Pandemic

Entrepreneurs constantly need to innovate and come up with effective strategies to meet the ever-dynamic business environment and novel challenges thrown by it. COVID-19 pandemic has tested the innovative capabilities of entrepreneurs to the maximum. The challenges during the pandemic have been more pronounced for the start-ups who are vulnerable anyhow and also resource starved in most cases, unlike well-established organizations. Start-ups rely on their unique approaches to make optimum use of their limited resources and sustain in competitive and uncertain scenarios. Unique situations like the recent COVID-19 pandemic draw the best out of the entrepreneurs to survive and come out as winners.The present study focuses on innovative strategies adopted by entrepreneurs to survive and grow during the pandemic crisis. The research suggests that the survival and growth rates increase when innovative strategies facilitated by latest technological tools are adopted.Innovative strategies including creative utilization of available resources, maximizing the “human capital” opportunities available, adopting the technology in effective ways, coming up with constant product and process innovations, reaching out to the market in novel ways, and utilizing conventional and virtual social networks helped start-ups in their struggle for survival and growth.