Covid-19 and the ensuing lockdowns exposed the significance of the healthcare industry, its weaknesses, and its strengths. The pandemic also realized that a more flexible and robust economy could help resolve shortcomings in other sectors.
However, the industries concentrated on delivering essential services and consumables flourished during the epidemic and will continue to do so. Here are five industries with one interesting startup in each that is thriving in the post-Covid world.
1. Fintech – OpenPath
Most people use fintech, the contraction of the words “financial” and “technology,” daily to do their banking on their smartphones. During the pandemic, the demand for contactless payments and remote banking were top priorities within the sector, as was the need for parametric insurance.
One fintech company thriving post-Covid is OpenPath and the new tech payment solutions it offers. In addition, OpenPath provides merchants with e-payment solutions by bridging gaps for issues like integrating products with data, siloed processors, and access to resolutions for these.
OpenPath’s intelligent platform provides merchants and processors with universal connectivity to complete transactions, maximize processing capacity, complex risk analysis, etc.
2. Biotech – EQRx
The biotechnology sector played a prominent role in the record-breaking release of vaccines thanks to Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech. There are several colossal biotechnology companies, but there is no shortage of startups in this sector, thanks to their vast range of products, including gene editing to toxic detergents for laundries.
Expected to grow to a $775.2 billion market by 2024, the growth is more than 100% from 2015; one of the most promising startups in the field is EQRx.
Founded in 2019 by Alexis Borisy, who previously founded CombinatorX, EQRx aims to make drugs more affordable with transparent pricing. The company, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, partners with other companies to ensure more cost-effective therapies. Included in their major projects is the development of drugs for late-stage cancers.
3. Edtech Companies – Outschool
Post-pandemic, more people accept remote or online learning as usual. As a result, new startups are springing up to join existing edtech companies in a market expected to hit a CAGR growth of 17.3%, reaching $998.4 billion by 2030.
Edtech startups include language learning, adaptive learning programs for individual student needs, video lessons for students of all ages, university courses, and specialized training for those already in the job market. Some big names in this field include Udemy, Coursera, and MasterClass, several fast-growing startups like Outschool seem set to thrive in the post-pandemic world.
Founded in 2015 in San Francisco, California, Outschool’s educational platform’s specially designed classes are for homeschooling children. With over 1,000 live courses, learners or their parents can choose from a list including anthropology, ballet, and STEM skills. The five-year search growth of 3900% ensures Outschool currently has a valuation of $3 billion, with half a million students taking at least one class out of the 140.000 taught to date.
4. Healthcare and Telehealth – Ceiba Healthcare
The pandemic boosted remote health monitoring, an area that met with plenty of resistance before. However, the numbers indicate that people seeking telehealth services increased 38 times from the levels seen before the lockdowns. In addition, a recent survey showed that physicians treated almost half of all their patients virtually compared to 18% in 2018.
Healthcare startups provide solutions like diagnostics, consultations, psychological support, teledentistry, and critical care. For example, Ceiba Healthcare, a Turkish startup, uses technology to monitor patients in ICU remotely and make care decisions based on their vital signs, diagnostic test results, and physiological status. In addition, the system can integrate with hospital monitoring systems through its purpose-built two-way platform, removing the need for any added hardware. Finally, clinicians can identify at-risk patients thanks to the AI-based platform’s smart alarm and scoring systems.
5. E-Commerce
Online shopping, especially grocery services, has increased considerably since the pandemic drove demand. Companies like Amazon and Walmart were poised to meet the demand, thanks to their investments in automated fulfillment centers, but many smaller businesses struggled to fill orders.
TakeOff Technologies is a startup founded in 2016. Their eGrocery automated fulfillment centers make it easier for consumers to order online and deliver and for retailers to meet the growing demand.
Post-pandemic, online grocers continue to see an increase in orders, which suggests online grocery shopping is here to stay since it has increased from 1.8% in 2010 to nearly 10% in 2022. Larger and smaller food retailers who resisted change until now are considering significant investments in automation technologies like those offered by TakeOff Technologies.
Bottom Line
These are just some industries and startups that continue to thrive post-Covid, showing that shifting consumer preferences are creating the new norm.
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