INTRODUCTION

Emerging sectors
Real Estate
KEY TRENDS AFFECTING THE REAL ESTATE MARKET
Raising Capital in the Real Estate Industry
Key Characteristics of a successful Real Estate entrepreneur.
Biggest Areas of Opportunity
Healthcare
Green Buildings
Corporate health and wellness
Organic Stores
Virtual Reality
Artificial Intelligence
Food Tech Industry
Biotechnology
1. Healthcare
2. Water conservation
3. Biodiesel production
4. Food production
5. Waste processing6. Regenerative medicine-:
7. Faster medical diagnostics
8. Soil improvement
Vertical farming
3D printing
Energy Harvesting:
Drones

INTRODUCTION
The World is moving towards consumerization and innovative ideas with
markets focusing on niche requirements. For example India is expected to
rank among top 3 growth economies and top 3 manufacturing destination by
2020.There is a sustainable availability of quality manpower. There is a
strong consumerism in domestic market. The cost of manpower is relatively
low compared to other part of the world. This make a favourable destination
of venture capitalists to invest in various business in India.
Major selection criteria for choosing a business is the potential of growth.
Majorly we need to understand the Industry in which the business is
operating and potential growth in the Industry. Another criteria is the
sustainable momentum which can be expected. If the business lies in an
Industry which is having a positive momentum, there is no need of
competing with the similar players in the Industry for getting sales.

Emerging sectors
Real Estate
-

Source:
http://realestate.wharton.upenn.edu/research/papers/full/538.pdf
https://techcrunch.com/2015/02/10/the-impending-opportunity-in-real-estatetechnology/
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/174782
KEY TRENDS AFFECTING THE REAL ESTATE MARKET
Entrepreneurs in the REal Estate industry should be aware of a few key trends
affecting the real estate market. Some of them are:

interest rates prevalent in the market

homeownership rates that gauges demand for primary residences;
rental vacancy rates that gauges demand for residential rental properties; and

 geo-demographic shifts that measures where people are moving to or from.

Raising Capital in the Real Estate Industry
Real estate is highly capital-intensive,since development and buying buildings and
land requires capital well in excess of the entrepreneurs wealth. Hence, successful
real estate entrepreneurs must raise outside capital.
Reputation is key here, if the entrepreneur's reputation is small so must be the
project. He must be able to slowly raise the reputation. The entrepreneur also must
be able to tell his story in a clear and simple manner, in two or three simple
sentences. They should be able to forge relationships and leverage it for their
advantage.
Key Characteristics of a successful Real Estate entrepreneur.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Rigorous research
Determine your Exit strategy before entry
Team player who understands talent
Study trends
Well laid out plan and complete understanding of the industry
Relationship builders
Biggest Areas of Opportunity
Opportunities for innovation using technology abound across the real estate
industry. Some of the biggest near-term opportunities for innovation are:

Property Management: Several companies are already competing for dominance

in this category, most offering software that helps property owners and
management companies oversee and easily track commercial real estate assets.
Industry-wide adoption is still sub-10 percent, though, so lots of opportunity for
growth remains.
Research and Analytics: Traditionally, commercial real estate developers would
hunker down with teams of analysts using HP calculators and gathering
demographic research to evaluate an investment opportunity. Today, open data
initiatives in municipalities across the country combined with creative needle
threading by software developers is changing this landscape, and much of the
data is readily available via monthly SaaS licenses.
Listing Services/Tech-Enabled Brokerages: Contrary to the incumbents in the
residential market, which are predominantly media businesses generating revenue
from advertising, a real opportunity exists for tech-enabled commercial listing
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services that could level the playing field, acting as marketplaces, and replacing the
less efficient relationship-driven model that still persists today.
Mobile Applications: By their very nature, real estate professionals are on the go,
pound-the-pavement types. Brokers, landlords, appraisers and developers are
constantly running around visiting properties. One can assume that many of the
most successful applications serving this market will have a healthy and robust
mobile component.
Residential and Commercial Lending: Regulatory changes have opened up
opportunities for innovation in lending, and real estate lending is by far the largest
sub-category. Were starting to see a number of emerging companies target this
area in different ways. Residential and commercial lending are different animals so
my guess is that well see a dozen worthwhile challengers going after each market.

Healthcare
Source:
-

http://www.forbes.com/sites/toddhixon/2014/07/25/opportunities-for-entrepreneursin-health-care/#193532a1347d
http://fortune.com/2015/02/19/healthcare-startups-succeed/
http://venturebeat.com/2013/10/01/5-hot-startup-opportunities-created-by-healthcare-reform/
Health care startups have boomed over the last several years, as evidenced by the
number of venture funding deals, which grew some 200% between 2010 and 2014.
The boom is driven by health reforms that are disrupting business models, an aging
population thats demanding more (and better) care, and the adoption of
technology such as wearables and video chat into the medical mainstream.
Almost $6.5 billion was invested in new healthcare ventures, a 125% increase over
2013. Coming to a private sector perspective, the healthcare opportunity is both
massive and daunting. With half the worlds population, rising incomes, growing
consumption, and a high rate of private spending on healthcare, there is a clear
commercial opportunity and one that can be effectively mobilized.
Opportunities in Healthcare

Remote patient monitoring tools and wearables : Entrepreneurs are building some
seriously cool devices to track body metrics, like a patients blood pressure and
heart rate. Patients with chronic conditions, like diabetes, are purchasing
glucometers, blood pressure cuffs, smart Wi-Fi scales, and pulse oximeters.
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Wearable technology will continue to generate a great deal of hype, but it could
reach a mainstream market if the data proves to be useful for doctors.
Population Health management : Population health management is a huge
buzzword in the health industry. Broadly speaking, it refers to the suite of software
tools hospitals and other care providers use to streamline the quality of care by
identifying high-risk patients and monitoring clinical outcomes.
Innovative primary care providers : Health Care practices that use technology to
engage patients between doctor visits. Its a preventive care model that is designed
to save money in the long run.
Telemedicine : New communications technologies promise to safely and securely
provide clinical care from a distance. For routine checkups, a remote teleconference
is a more effective use of time for both the doctor and the patient.
Data Analytics : doctors will be able to access far more data than ever before, pulled
in from all these new remote patient monitoring devices, publicly available sources,
and electronic health records. These will be integral to identify disease patterns and
help find cures faster.

Green Buildings
Green Buildings are the emerging sector in the construction field. Economic
health of today customers has increased and due to various initiatives by the
Government and public, peoples are more concerned about the environment.
Even builders also trying to differentiate themselves with new offerings.
Builders are giving water harvesting, sewage treatment plant, waste
management systems, green plant with maintenance in the apartments.
Government also trying to make the building with energy efficient and
planning to give subsidies for the promotion of the same. Currently number
of players are low due to which competition is less. 23% growth is expected
in this field in the next 5 years

Corporate health and wellness

Nowadays peoples are becoming more aware about the health habits.
Peoples are more concerned with the food habits and wellness centres.
Corporates also spend money to teach yoga to the employees and paying
memberships for their employees. 45% of employers gives wellness
treatment in 2013 compared to 30% in 2005 which shows the opportunity in
the field. It is expected to grow 10% yearly till 2020.Influence of six pack by
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the Film stars also induces many people to go after various health fitness
workout centre. This also throws opportunity in the space. Due to the
increase of diseases like Cancer, peoples are more cautious and going after
healthy food habits.

Organic Stores
Organic stores is an increasing Industry in Kerala especially due to the
awareness of application of pesticides from the vegetables coming from
neighbouring states. Government also has taken several steps in promoting
the cultivation of organic vegetables. Lot of Organic stores is coming up in
the city looking at the awareness level of people and understanding the
potential of the market. Current issue is the high cost in the Organic stores.
But there is a potential for a company who can offer competitive price in the
Industry.

Virtual Reality
2016 is expected to be a breakthrough for virtual reality. Consumers are
expected to purchase several million VR headsets. Gaming Industry will be
the initial driver for widespread use of Virtual Reality. Education, Training
sector, health care, military also use the virtual reality techniques more in
the upcoming years. Facebooks $2 billion purchase of VR software and
Hardware also shows the potential in the field. The challenge is that the new
entrants need to shoot and produce VR Content, develop software for VR
content. Initial Research and development cost also will be very high.

Artificial Intelligence
Another path breaking field in which entrepreneurs can look is the Artificial
Intelligence. This technology is expected to hit wide variety of sectors. Selfdriving cars under research also uses this technology. Start-ups would be
requiring manpower with advanced computing skills and specific degree
focused on the technology. Another challenge in this field are manpower
involved would be specialists and large companies try to snatch the
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manpower once trained. The global market for Artificial Intelligence is

expected to reach $9.2 billion by 2019. This is almost double than that of
2014.

Food Tech Industry

The food tech industry typically refers to companies that use internet or
mobile technology to make the preparation, assembly, or distribution of food
products more efficient or profitable. One of the emerging areas of the sector
is food analytics, which includes companies developing smart kitchen
appliances such as devices that help consumers with food inventory
management. Global investment in such companies reached $5.74 billion in 2015.
Major skill requirement is the Strong web software development and other IT skills.
There should be experience in foodservice and logistics for companies operated in
the food delivery space.

Biotechnology
Biotechnologists have been helping to improve the quality of life and health in the world for
years. A lot of innovative food products, drugs and technologies have come out of the
biotechnologists den, and we have them to thank for various feats in the reducing nasty
human footprint on the environment, combating and reducing various diseases, increasing
availability of food, and conserving energy and water resources.
The importance of this field of science is becoming even more glaring, as governments
have continued to pump funds into the industry to encourage more entrepreneurs to invest
in it, so that more life changing discoveries and innovations can be made.
However, to invest in this booming industry, you would need an idea to fly withnot just any
idea, but a viable one guaranteed to bring profit. The primary focus of investors in this
industry is not just to make money, but to touch lives. Therefore, the biotechnology business
ideas listed below are not just profit-giving ones but also life-enhancing ones.

10 Small Business Opportunities in the Biotechnology Industry

1. Healthcare

Many dangerous diseases have crept into our world today and as we struggle to combat
them, new diseases keep cropping up. Therefore, it would be a very good idea to launch a
company that would carry out extensive research on how to use genetics to cure several
diseases. There should also be focus on developing drugs that will help to prevent and fight
such diseases.
2. Water conservation

Its quite strange that, even though a large part of the earth is covered in water, availability
of clean water is still a problem in the world today. Very few countries have access to clean
water because of the degree of pollution brought about by industrialization. Biotechnologists
can help to reduce this problem by coming up with water treatment plants that would focus
on converting wastewater to safe drinking water.
3. Biodiesel production

Another challenge we are facing in the world today is fuel shortage. We need fuel in almost
every aspect of lifefor feeding, transportation etc. However, the sources of fuel that we
have today are simply too costly and conveniently affordable by the rich only. But vegetable
and animal fats can be converted into biodiesel which is an alternative and cheaper source
of fuel.
4. Food production

Researchers are of the opinion that with the high rate at which food is consumed and the
slow rate at which it is grown, there might be a global famine in the next 50 years. This is
because when the rate of food consumption exceeds the rate of growth, it could lead to a
shortage of world food supply. It has therefore become important for innovators and

technologists to go back to the drawing board and come up with ways to boost food
production. This is just one of the sectors biotechnologists can invest in.
5. Waste processing: Another business idea is to invest in waste management and processing, so that
waste products can be converted into useful and resalable materials.
6. Regenerative medicine-:

This is another hot idea for investors. Stem cell transplants and tissue engineering are
gaining more recognition as acceptable ways for treating organ damage or failure in
humans.
7. Faster medical diagnostics

When people have fast and cheap access to diagnostics, the rate of mortality from diseases
would be reduced. Biotechnologists can come up with ways of using information technology
in combination with nanotechnology to create personalized and accurate diagnostic
systems that would also be inexpensive.
8. Soil improvement

Humans have continued to abuse the cheapness and availability of arable lands so much
that this resource, as important as it is, has now become threatened. Arable land is now in
short supply. Bio-regeneration and bio-augmentation are some of the ways through which
biotechnologists can help to restore arable lands and make farmlands more productive.
India is amongst the top 12 biotech destinations in the world and ranks third in the Asia
Pacific region. In India the Department of Biotechnology has established biotech parks in
various parts of the country to facilitate product development, research and innovation, and
the development of biotechnology industrial clusters. The parks offer investors incubator
facilities, pilot plants facilities for solvent extraction and laboratory and office spaces.

Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) has funded 15 incubation

centers offering a whole host of instrumentation facilities and services. India constitutes
around 8% of the total global generics market, by volume indicating a huge untapped
opportunity in the sector. Hybrid seeds, including GM seeds, represents new business
opportunities in India based on yield improvement
New Investment opportunities in India are in the areas of
o

Drug discovery and clinical trails

Medical devices manufacturing

Biosimilars: a biopharmaceutical drug designed to have active properties similar to

one that has previously been licensed

o

Secondary agriculture: Secondary agriculture is basically processing of products of

primary agriculture; Value addition to agriculture produce.

Vertical farming
Vertical farming is a method of vegetable farming in skyscrapers in vertically
stacked layers. Vertical farming uses controlled environment agriculture (CEA)
technology where environmental factors like water, temperature, humidity, sunlight,
nutrients in the soil can be controlled. The skyscrapers used for vertical farming can
be of exclusive or of mixed use skyscrapers. The idea of vertical farming enable the
production of crops right inside the city which will reduce the transportation for
bringing the items from production land to the consumer.
At the first look the idea seems a very much advanced and promising one which
may solve all the food related problems of the world. Lets look at the pros and cons
of this idea.
Advantages of vertical farming:

a.
It will feed ever-growing world population with the minimal usage of
land and resources.
As per the estimation, by 2050 the world population will increase by 3 billion people
and 80% of entire population will live in cities. 80% will live in city doesnt mean
that the people will squeeze into the existing city area, but the city will grow to the
existing farming lands. The increased population and reduced farming land will lead
to encroachments to forests for the increased food production which will destabilize
entire environmental and ecological systems that are already in danger. The idea of
vertical farmland will reduce the chances of this disaster to happen.
b.
Increased crop production because of the possibility of all season
farming and the protection from weather elements.
Since the plants are grown in controlled environment, the crops can be produced
irrespective of season. The resource (air, water, humidity, nutrients, light) conditions
can be provided irrespective of the season of time which will multiply the
productivity factor of the area to 4-6 times depending on the crop.
Traditional outdoor farming is always susceptible to suboptimal or extreme weather
conditions whereas the vertical farming reduces the effects of changes in climatic
conditions.
c.

Conservation of resources and environment.

Each unit area of vertical farm could allow upto 20 units of area of outdoor
farmland. This will enable the increased population to be fed without the addition of
new farmland. The controlled usage of water, fertilizers and other resources reduces
the wastage and the plants grown in the enclosed structures will be saved from the
attack of pests. So the usage of pesticides can be avoided.
Problems of vertical farming:
a.

Is vertical farming economically viable?

A commercial high rise vertical farming doesnt exist which means a detailed cost
analysis on setup, operation costs are not known. The setup cost of building alone of
a 60 hectare vertical farm is approximately $100 million plus the office occupancy
cost of big cities. Similarly the operational costs required to provide the artificial
light and climatic controls is also not known. All these factors raise the concern that
whether the vertical farming is economically viable.

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b.

Energy requirement.

Some skeptics believe that supplemental light will be required to in order to obtain
economically viable yields from vertically grown crops. The energy costs to provide
the supplemental lights and the cooling and heating of towers to provide all season
yield will be way too expensive and thus the vertical farming concept will be
uncompetitive with the traditional farming.
c.

Will vertical farming cause more pollution than traditional farming?

Skeptics believe that depending on the method of electricity generation used, the
vertical farms can produce more greenhouse gases than a traditional field. Also the
possibilities of light pollution is being raised by some scientists.
Conclusion:
By seeing the pros and cons of Vertical farming, this appears to be solution to
the future food needs of ever growing population.
Reference:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertical_farming
http://www.verticalfarm.com/

3D printing
3D printing is a manufacture process used to synthesize three dimensional
objects using computer control. 3D printing is also known as additive manufacturing
as the successive layers are formed using a computer controlled machine to create
the object. Unlike traditional manufacturing which can be used to manufacture only
one or a specific set of objects, the 3D printing can be done for any shape or
geometry and can be produced from digital model or 3D model. Traditional
manufacturing requires lengthy manufacturing lines where as it is not required in 3D
printing.
3D printing is considered to be beginning third industrial revolution
succeeding the production line assembly that dominates now.
Advantages and applications of 3D printing:

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a.

Manufacturing applications

Three-dimensional printing makes it as cheap to create single items as it is to produce

thousands and thus undermines economies of scale. It may have as profound an impact on the
world as the coming of the factory did....Just as nobody could have predicted the impact of the
steam engine in 1750or the printing press in 1450, or the transistor in 1950it is impossible
to foresee the long-term impact of 3D printing. But the technology is coming, and it is likely to
disrupt every field it touches. - Economist, February 10, 2011
1.
Distributed manufacturing: 3D printing in combination with the cloud
computing enables the decentralized distributive production. That is the
manufacturing of items at one location and then assemble them to make a product
and transport the finished product to customer will be changed to print the object at
the nearby location of the customer.
2.
Mass customization: 3D printers are capable of printing almost any shape
which enable the customization of products to an unprecedented level.
3.
Rapid prototyping and manufacturing: Since the 3D printing skips the steps to
turn the computerized design into a workable prototype and then make the molds
for the parts for production, the development and manufacturing of the products
become faster.
4.
Research: 3D printing can be particularly useful in research labs due to its
ability to make specialized, bespoke geometries and thus to create specimens and
prototypes for research and study purpose.

b.

Industrial applications:

1.
Apparel industry started using the 3D printed apparel on an experimental
basis. Nike started using the 3D printing technique in designing the running shoes
and also used in making custom sports gears for athletes.
2.
Vehicle industry is a major benefactor of the 3D printing technology as it
enables them to create complicated machine parts very easily and the prototyping
of new vehicle with much hustle free which was otherwise a painstaking process.

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3.
Medical field is going to benefit from 3D printing in making custom fit artificial
body parts. 3D printing also enables the making of high precision complicated
operation tools easily.

c.

Social Applications:

1.
Artistic and cultural applications of 3D printing enables museums to make
souvenirs as miniature replicas of actual objects. This technology also enables easy
making of artistic objects, which will otherwise be very difficult due to the
complicated curves and shapes.
2.
Education and research allows students to make prototypes of things without
using expensive tools at a very high precision. Students can re-create duplicates of
museum items to study on the subject without damaging the original piece.
Problems:
Like in any technology there are good things and bad things. The 3D printing is
capable of creating fire arms which may create trouble to the society. Also the
concept of intellectual property on the designs will be challenged as the any design
can be easily copied and manufactured using a 3D printer.
Conclusion:
Though there are a few problems that need to be addressed, 3D printing appears to
be the future of manufacturing.
Reference:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_printing
http://3dprinting.com/what-is-3d-printing/

Energy Harvesting:
Energy harvesting is the process by which energy from non-conventional
sources like solar, tide, wind, kinetic energy from body movements and body heat is
being absorbed or derived and then stored for powering low-energy electronic

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devices. The development in the energy harvesting area will also advance the
developments in wearable electronics and wireless sensor networks. The idea of
energy harvesting is also gaining momentum as people become more aware of the
ill effects of traditional energy sources (like coal, petroleum) that create to the
environment.
The process of energy harvesting happens in 3 stages.
1.
Accumulating the energy for the low energy gadgets and sensors depends on
their required power input. The extraction of energy is largely depends on the type
or source. In case of sensors placed at far and dangerous locations, the scavenging
of energy from its surrounding (like harvesting from vibrations, heat, sunlight, and
wind) will enable them to work indefinitely. For example the sensor placed beneath
the surface of earth can source its energy from thermal power or seismic vibrations
and sensors placed beneath the oceans can source energy from the water
movements or from vibrations at the surface of ocean bed.
2.

Storage of power is usually achieved by the usage of capacitors or batteries.

3.
The power being majorly used for the sensory purposes and to transmit the
data through wireless.
Though the term appears to be a futuristic, the acts of energy harvesting was in
place long ago, like windmills, wind sailing of boats and ships. In this era of
wearable electronics and wireless sensors energy harvesting is possible by using
different techniques which are listed below.
a.
Ambient radiation sources: The surface of earth is exposed to natural (like
cosmic rays, solar rays) and man-made radiations (like radio waves) and it is
possible to collect these radiations to power the devices.
b.
Air and Fluid flow: Wind energy harvesting is a promising source of energy if
there steady strong winds in the area. .The same is the case of water flow. The
energy can be harvested from the flow of ocean streams or river streams or from
tides.
c.
Photovoltaic energy harvesting provides inexhaustible power with little
environmental effects. Light will be converted into electricity by photovoltaic cells.
d.
Piezoelectric effect converts mechanical strain into electrical current. The
strain can be from any source like human motion, seismic vibrations and noises

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around. The good example of this is the energy harvesting used in the self-winding
wristwatches.
e.
Magnetic induction energy harvesting is based on the Faradays law of
induction which states the movement of a coil in magnetic field can create electric
current.
f.
Blood sugar: a very interesting source of energy harvesting is through the
oxidation of blood sugar which can be used to power the implanted devices. This is
still under development.
References:
http://www.energyharvesting.net/
http://www.iop.org/resources/energy/

Drones
Drones are the commonly accepted term for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)
which is an aircraft without a human pilot onboard. The development of drones was
initially for missions (especially military missions) that are too "dull, dirty or
dangerous" for humans. Now the drones are widely being used for surveillance,
scientific, commercial, recreational and agricultural purposes. Though the drones
were developed for military purposes, now the number of civilian drones vastly
outnumbered the military drones. Over a million civilian drones were sold by 2015.
Applications of drones:
The current and potential future usage of drones are being explained below.
1.
Military applications: Drones are gaining upper hand in militaries all over the
world and replaces many functions of fighter jets. The drones like MQ-9 Reaper are
capable of doing operations done by F-16 fighter planes at the fraction of cost.
Surveillance, intelligence gathering and attack are the major uses of military
drones.
2.
Civil Applications: Civil uses include aerial crop surveys, aerial photography,
search and rescue, inspection of powerlines and pipelines, counting wildlife
delivering medical supplies to otherwise inaccessible regions, and detection of
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illegal hunting, reconnaissance operations, cooperative environment monitoring,

border patrol missions, convoy protection, forest fire detection and monitoring,
surveillance, coordinating humanitarian aid, plume tracking, land surveying, fire and
large-accident investigation, landslide measurement, illegal landfill detection, the
construction industry and crowd monitoring. Amazon.com started using drones for
the delivery of packets to the customers. The developments of the drone moves at a
fast pace that in near future the drones capable of carrying passengers are going to
come.
The uses of drones went to directions unforeseen at the time of its development.
Hence we can expect that more and more uses will be emerged for drones as the
time passes.
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unmanned_aerial_vehicle

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