MapmyIndia goes public today… this is a big day not only for the company, but also for India’s tech ecosystem. Here’s why

• This is a “defacto” tech product company that started making digitalmaps in 1995 (before Google was even born) #NotMeToo
• I emphasize the word “defacto”, because this isn’t a technology enabled play like ecommerce, nor a foreign market focused Indian SAAS startup… it’s a technology platform company that was born/bred in and for India [this is my earlier essay on how India lacks platform companies]
• It’s a clear market leader in India’s B2B mapping space, as opposed to B2C where Googlemaps is the default choice
• I also think going forward (on a decadal timeframe), given the emerging geopolitical landscape around big tech dominance, security, privacy, sovereign data protection laws et al, this is one space among others, where foreign players will be at a disadvantage and gradually the ball may start tilting towards Indian players

Incidentally, I wrote about MapmyIndia (15 yrs ago!) way back in 2007 when this blog Webyantra had a diff avatar and was amongst the most widely read blogs about Indian internet & tech. I had forgotten about it, but Rohan’s tweet brought back distant memories!

The stock market pundits will have endless commentary about the IPO – valuation, pricing, low free float, OFS, growth/profitability prospects given Googlemaps etc. But none of that should take us away from the bigger tech picture here – this is the IPO of a homegrown, India originated, #NotMeToo, India centric technology product company.

Congrats to Rohan and his parents for painstakingly building MMI out over the years… they saw this coming 26 years ago! Here’s hoping a thousand MMIs bloom in India… if we want our nation to be a technology super-power! #ProductNation

(Pic credit https://twitter.com/BSEIndia/status/1473139794238578691)