Developers, startups may make India global Web3 development hub

Bengaluru: Entrepreneurs, developers, and startups in India will play a critical role in building global apps and platforms for the third generation of the Internet, or the so-called Web3, reveal hiring trends across the world.

Web3 makes use of blockchain-based technologies to create a version of a decentralized version of the web. Companies that desire to develop apps and Web3 platforms will require technology talent across industries including blockchain developers, machine learning specialists, app developers, front-end and back-end developers, user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) designers, data analytics professionals, and content writers.

The cryptotech industry, for instance, already employs 50,000 individuals in India and has registered a growth of 39% in the last five years, according to a September 2021 report by crypto exchange WazirX and industry body Nasscom. India already has 230 cryptotech startups, according to the report.

“Web 3.0 will create more jobs and opportunities and will enhance the economy. India is positioned uniquely to take the benefits from Web 3.0 as India has a large pool of startups, developers, and one of the largest internet consumers markets in the world,” said Pramod Idiculla, Head, Design and Content at Nasscom FutureSkills, an industry driven learning ecosystem in India.

Data sourced from hiring consultancy TeamLease corroborates that blockchain is among the top skills in demand across sectors. As of February 2022, there were 12,000 blockchain-related jobs in India, accounting for 4.5% of the total active job openings in the country. The company also noted that 20% of these jobs will be for the global market, and that the Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI) sector, currency exchanges, startups and investment funds are among the chief job providers in the Web3 segment.

“The age old cliche that India just copies western tech ideas no longer applies especially to web3. We have innovative and important ideas coming out of India such as scaling solutions, notification systems, dev tools etc,” said Aniket Jindal, co-founder of homegrown blockchain startup, Biconomy. 

Biconomy is among those Indian startups that are being recognized in the global Web3 space. The company has raised a little over $20 million so far, but its BICO crypto token has a market capitalization of $178 million, according to data from crypto tracking platform Coinmarketcap.

In fact, the BICO token’s fully diluted market cap is over a billion dollars. Fully diluted market cap is the total value a cryptocurrency would generate at its current price, if its entire supply was on the market. Web3 firms release their tokens in tranches, so the entire value is realized over time.

Polygon is another firm that has gained ground as an important web3 infrastructure company. Polygon’s blockchain platform is supported and used by top non-fungible token (NFT) platform OpenSea, among others. EPNS, which stands was Ethereum Push Notification Service, is a smaller firm that is being recognized globally as an important web3 infra provider right now.

“India has a lot of web3 talent that is now,” said Jindal. “We also have lots of web3 entrepreneurs & capital waiting to support these startup ventures. The key now is for the administration to support this talent and startups and make sure we don’t see a brain drain,” he added.

According to Shashi Shekhar, lead, growth and strategy, NEAR Education, the education arm of blockchain platform NEAR Protocol, the average starting salary in blockchain jobs in India is around $600 per month, approximately Rs. 45,000. He also noted that supply for talent for web3 development is low right now, which is yet another reason why India is becoming a development hub for web3 platforms.

To be sure, the country’s IT services firms, which have built billion-dollar businesses by supporting global internet infra, are also starting to take note. In February, both Infosys and Tech Mahindra announced their entry into the metaverse space with new business arms that will focus on this element of web3. The metaverse is a concept which allows users to interact with each other, conduct business and do much more, within virtual worlds by creating a digital twin of the real world.