NEW DELHI : In India, Kabir Barday’s name doesn’t ring a bell. Barday’s startup OneTrust, which focuses on data privacy and security, doesn’t quite feature in India’s unicorn list.
That is understandable. Born and brought up in the US, Barday is a first-generation entrepreneur, whose Atlanta-based company has been a trailblazer. Founded in 2016, OneTrust has over 1,200 employees and was valued at $5 billion plus in its last fund-raising round in December 2020. The fast-growing startup builds digital tools that give companies a clearer view of their user data, while also enabling compliance on privacy laws.
Although Barday and his company aren’t Indian, India lurks in both his and his company’s DNA. Consider the art of hustling and his entrepreneurial streaks. “When my dad came here (the US) in the 1980s from Pune, he started delivering newspapers to earn some money on the side," he says. A few years later, Barday senior quit his software developer’s job to turn entrepreneur, opening a chain of gas stations and restaurants. “I grew up in that environment. The expectation always was that you don’t work for someone, but yourself," he says.
Barday and OneTrust are an interesting new breed in India’s startup landscape. Let’s just call them NRUs—or non-resident unicorns, a spin on NRIs. NRUs are startups that have their headquarters outside India, have at least one Indian founder (or one with Indian roots) and a significant research and development (R&D) presence in the country.
“Some of our best and most important products have been built by the team in India. We are here for the country’s top talent," Barday says. And the company is now thinking big and beyond the engineering centre in India. “India is passing some of the toughest privacy laws in the world. As a result, it is also among our top strategic markets today," he says. Not surprisingly, OneTrust’s top executives and engineers, including the chief executive officer and chief technology officer, used to travel to and from India fairly frequently until the pandemic struck. Now, as the digitization wave creates strong tailwinds, the company plans to double its engineering team in India even as it eyes robust business growth this year.
In India’s closely followed and growing club of unicorns, NRUs like OneTrust may not get a mention, but they are an interesting and important new category that India must take note of.
Straddling two worlds Working closely with the consultancy firm Zinnov, Mint scanned the global landscape of unicorn startups to identify NRUs. Of the total 496 global unicorns, at least 53 of them with headquarters outside India have a significant presence within the country through global innovation centres (GICs). Of these, as many as 23 have one or more founders with Indian roots. “At least 14 of these 23 unicorns set up their India centre alongside their US headquarters. They had a presence here (India) very early in their growth curve. Those are the ones that make it to the list," says Atit Danak, principal and head, Zinnov CoNXT. Read More at https://www.livemint.com/news/india/nris-are-pass-meet-the-new-nrus-11623770548982.html
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