Whether it’s your first time or your fifth, starting up your own business or enterprise is no easy feat. The business landscape had been completely revolutionised in recent years however, especially thanks to the emergence of digital industries and tech trends. As a result, there are many more areas now in which fledgling businesses can be set up that offer great prospects and the potential for growth.
Many more investors, too, are taking an interest in the tech sector, as it’s one of the more stable industries that does seem to offer a security that others can’t in the rapidly increasing digitilisation of the world.
Here are five of the most promising industries that are still providing great opportunities for startups in 2020.
FinTech
Short for Financial Technology, FinTech has been a top industry for startups for a few years now, but it really began to take off in 2018, when the update to the EU’s Payment Services Directive – PSD2 – came into effect.
This new regulation had a two-fold effect; consumers became better protected during online transactions, and businesses in the industry were able to develop innovations like Open Banking. Consequently, third party organisations have also been able to gain access to consumer banking data (with their permission) leading to a boom in fintech startups who are looking to provide the services that consumers just can’t get from traditional banks.
The industry is fast becoming more competitive, but there’s still plenty of room and need for original ideas, or products targeted at specific demographics.
Gaming
Gaming is now a vast industry that spans not just PC gaming, but specialised gaming genres like Fortnite‘s Battle Royale, professional eSports tournaments, iGaming platforms like PokerStars, mobile gaming, and even Virtual Reality games through platforms like Steam.
The gaming industry as a whole is expected to generate a total of $159.3 billion revenue in 2020 (a 9.3% year on year growth when compared to 2019), that is projected to reach over $200 billion by 2023. It’s a highly lucrative industry, particularly the mobile market which, thanks to smartphone penetration and a surge in popularity in gaming apps during Q1 2020, will account for revenues of $77.2 billion in 2020 – a 13.3% increase from 2019.
Mobile also has what are probably the lowest barriers to entry: there are now 5.28 billion people in the world who own a mobile device (just under 68% of the world’s total population), and gaming apps make up 33% of all app downloads across Android and iOS app stores.
Educational Technology
Aka EdTech. This is undoubtedly one of the most lucrative industries to emerge in recent years – global investments in the sector reached a massive $16.3 billion in 2018 alone. It’s an industry that thrives on disruptive ideas that challenge the traditional methods of learning and education, plus as our lives become more digital there’s an increased need for integrated learning.
In 2020, education can and should be accessible by anyone anywhere; online courses can empower and mobilise disenfranchised sections of society, online training can provide affordable and sustainable skills development for organisations, and digital solutions can benefit both students and teachers via things like automated processes, AI based learning assessments tailored to each individual, Virtual Reality classrooms and so on.
Wearable Tech
Bio-hacking. It sounds gruesome, but it’s actually a growing practice amongst consumers that refers to the daily habit of making micro lifestyle changes that will scientifically transform a person’s physical and mental experiences. If you’ve come across bulletproof coffee or intermittent fasting, they’re both two great examples of bio-hacking practices. However, like many 21st century practices, bio-hacking is also intimately linked to technology, opening up the potential for start-ups in the wearable tech sectors.
It’s rare to find someone who isn’t interested in optimising their time, energy, nutrition or overall lifestyle these days, and that’s exactly what wearable tech like smart watches, fitness trackers, sleep monitors, and even Sci-Fi-esque embeddable implants offer. Widen the net even further, and there’s also a clear link between the efficiency of wearable tech with the modern consumer’s need to stay connected with people, news, and information on the go, so it’s no wonder this sector is expedited to be worth $34.61 billion by the end of this year.
