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The technology sector had a bumper 2021 owing to the pandemic-driven boom for digital platforms offering various products and services, stock market listings of new-age firms, and big-ticket funding rounds from prominent venture capital firms and even private equity funds leading to a record number of unicorns in a single year.

2022 has been a reality check after the euphoria last year and many fortunes have changed during the course of the year. The startup funding winter triggered by the war between Russia and Ukraine along with rising interest rates in the US pushed the sector into trouble, which was further exacerbated by soaring inflation and looming threats of a global recession.
At ETtech, we were on top of this change being played out in India and here is a list of ETtech’s top technology and startup stories in 2022

Stock plunge of new-age tech firms: Shares of new-age tech firms that listed in 2021 - Paytm, Nykaa, Delhivery, PB Fintech (parent of Policybazaar) and Zomato - had a torrid 2022 as most of them saw a steep decline on the stock exchanges. Large funds continued to dump their shareholding in some of these companies, pointing to more pain ahead, said analysts, who warned retail investors against mopping up these shares at this juncture. Among all the new-age firms, Paytm turned out to be the worst hit after losing over 70% of its market capitalisation since listing.

Read here for more: New-age business shares bleed further; analysts recommend caution

Here’s ETtech’s deep dive on what went wrong with Paytm IPO

Further, other startups such as epharmacy firm PharmEasy, earphones and wearables firm Boat and etailer Snapdeal have now shelved their IPO plans as markets remained choppy and startups get scrutinised meticulously on their financial health.

Read here for more: PharmEasy delays IPO, targets Ebitda breakeven by next year

Freeing the bird: Tech billionaire Elon Musk first announced the purchase of microblogging platform Twitter, then went back on his word and engaged in some social-media mud-slinging, and finally closed the deal a day before the acquisition was to go to trial. Post his purchase, he fired the CXOs and more than half the staff, and since then embarked on a journey to stamp his ‘free speech stand 'by moulding Twitter to align with his vision.

Read here for more: Elon Musk freed the bird, but who'll free him?

Funding winter, recession fears & layoffs: One of the most significant developments that indicated the ailing health of the global technology sector was the sackings across Big Tech companies such as Meta, Amazon, Twitter, and Google (yet to be formally announced) and the delay in fresh hiring in firms such as Microsoft and Apple. Glocal macroeconomic headwinds, a protracted Russia-Ukraine conflict, and soaring inflation contributed to dwindling revenues and shrinking ad spends.

Read here for more: Google, Meta lead Big Tech layoffs. All you need to know

Corporate governance concerns: 2022 will be remembered, rather sadly, for the public spat between BharatPe cofounder Ashneer Grover and the board of the fintech firm. Grover who resigned from the fintech startup as well as its board said he was ‘vilified’ and treated in the ‘most disrespectful manner’, capping a high-decibel conflict that has raged for months.

Much-celebrated
Ankiti Bose, the cofounder of fashion startup Zilingo, too, had to resign owing to corporate governance issues. Similarly, influencer-led video commerce firm
Trell had a forensic audit on allegations of corporate misgivings
. Its founder also shot off a fiery note to investors in the wake of the probe announcement.

Watch here for more: ETtech Exclusive: BharatPe Co-Founder Ashneer Grover on how he was pushed to resign

Also Read:
Ashneer Grover: The new rage in startup town

RBI’s diktat to fintechs: With the release of RBI’s new digital lending guidelines, banks and non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) have moved away from first loan default guarantee (FLDG) partnerships, dealing a blow to smaller fintechs by forcing them to lend at higher costs. As the regulatory overhang on fintechs continues, and the RBI taking steps to regulate various aspects of the sector, the operating environment became difficult for the overall sector that might pave the way for consolidation in the time to come.

Read here for more: 2022 Year in Review | A tumultuous 2023 awaits fintech startups

Byju’s mounting troubles: Byju Raveendran and his edtech startup Byju’s has had a year that they would like to forget. The most valued startup of the country was marred in controversies from predatory marketing tactics to delayed financial results, eventually
leading to the layoff of at least 2,500 employees, all of it happened during the year. The company was also hauled up for its trade practices by different government ministries. Recently, it was summoned by the NCPCR in the wake of allegations that “guidelines” were being violated by the edtech firm. Further, the country’s largest edtech startup has also been questioned for the delay in the repayment of the loan it took to purchase Aakash Institute last year.

Read here for more: Byju’s losses swell to Rs 4,588 crore in delayed FY21 results

SoftBank hurt by portfolio losses: Rajeev Misra, CEO, SB Investment Advisers, who managed SoftBank Vision Fund, stepped back from his executive role at the technology fund, in what was a major rejig at the influential technology investment firm. It also booked record losses from its portfolio companies such as WeWork, Uber and Coupang forcing them to rechart their strategies for the future. Son also said the ongoing funding winter will last longer for unicorn founders who are unwilling to accept a lower valuation to raise funds and continue to believe in their previous valuation.

Read here for more: Rajeev Misra steps back at SoftBank to launch new fund

Tata’s foray into ecommerce: After several delays, Tata Group finally launched its much-awaited super app Tata Neu for the public in April this year. But, the journey since then has been slow, compounded by senior-level exits and a possible consolidation to further intensify its presence in ecommerce.

The Tata Group transferred the holding of Tata UniStore, which owns and runs the fashion and luxury-focused ecommerce platform Tata Cliq, to Tata Digital. Tata Digital thus becomes the sole entity for all online shopping ventures of the Tatas, including Tata Neu, BigBasket and Croma. It has also pumped in
more cash in BigBasket and
1mg this year.

Read here for more: Tatas bring all ecommerce ventures under digital business

Collapse of crypto: It all came crashing down for the cryptoverse in 2022 as it faced its toughest year since its inception. Various governments cracked down on crypto exchanges, including those in India, on allegations of money laundering and tax evasion. The crypto market suffered a major blow when the collapse of stablecoins such as Terra and Luna triggered a meltdown, that only became worse as the year progressed. The final nail came with the bankruptcy of FTX - the second-largest crypto exchange in the world - followed by the arrest of its founder and crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried.

Read here for more: The charges against Sam Bankman-Fried

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