This article was originally published in Rest of World, which covers technology’s impact outside the West.
On May 2, 2023, Roshni Kumar Yambem was finishing a long day at Globizs, his IT services startup. It had not been easy for Yambem to attract an international clientele while based in the remote state of Manipur, but over the past decade, he had done it. Globizs was just beginning to emerge from a years-long pandemic slump. What came the next day, though, would change everything.
On May 3, after a violent protest, the state government shut down the internet throughout Manipur. The measure was the latest in a slew of curfews and internet shutdowns imposed in the state to control violence amid communal conflicts that have killed hundreds of people. This shutdown was the most severe yet. It lasted from May to December, a total of 212 days – the longest internet blackout in the worst year for blackouts globally, according to a report by Top10VPN, an independent virtual private network review platform.
The internet shutdown and ethnic violence put a sudden stop to Manipur’s rapidly growing startup scene. In 2021 and 2022, Manipur registered 33 and 31 startups, respectively – a higher number than most other North East Indian states, according to government data. The actual number, however, is much higher, workers at Manipur startups told Rest of World. Startups in the state include Globizs, food delivery app Foodwifi, taxi-hailing app My Cabs Imphal, health-care company Medilane, e-commerce sites Kumshung and Teakore, and IT services provider Lamzing Technologies.
In 2023, though, IT professionals in Manipur moved to other tech hubs in India like Bengaluru and Hyderabad. Yambem, too, plans to leave the state. He told Rest of World its economy has come to a standstill and there is no sign of it improving.
“During Covid[-19], we at least had the online economy, but now it is like a war,” Yambem said. “From hotels to retail businesses, everybody is downsizing and making job cuts.”
Manipur’s startup ecosystem started growing in 2018 when the state government launched Startup Manipur, an initiative to promote economic growth and generate large-scale employment. The state earmarked Rs 150 crore (around $18 million) to be spent over five years to build incubators and accelerators, provide financial support to startups, and offer a supportive regulatory framework for local entrepreneurs.
“We started programmes to create awareness in educational institutes,” Rajiv Kangabam, who leads Manipur Technology Innovation Hub, a government initiative, told Rest of World. “From pitch decks to other training, entrepreneurs are now mentoring the young ones as they need to compete with entrepreneurs from other states as well.”
The state of Manipur, known for its scenic landscapes, vibrant dance forms, and a predominantly agrarian population, tried to transform its image. For a while, it worked. “People working outside with MNCs [multinational companies] in Hyderabad or London started to come back. Retail stores, restaurants would remain open till 10 or 11 pm,” Yambem said.
Now, Manipur’s tech and startup community is struggling to survive – similar to the state as a whole. “People are worried and don’t want to spend money on food. Many have lost jobs,” Kenedy Oinom, co-founder of Foodwifi, told Rest of World. “Shops and companies are shutting down. It’s a financial crisis.” He said that during last year’s internet blackout, Foodwifi tried to pivot to a phone call-based delivery service, but business has still halved over time.
Many entrepreneurs have stopped taking online orders, unsure whether they would be able to fulfill them. “The internet might stop or the courier service. And if I don’t fulfill the order, I will be penalized by Amazon and also receive negative reviews,” Soubam Luxmibai, director of e-commerce site Teakore, told Rest of World. “We plan and then something happens, and we have to keep rewiring. It is tiring.”
Ailan Maibam, who runs tech companies Awpara and Lamzing Technologies, lost much of his clientele after the 2023 internet ban. “I was permitted to set up my work in government offices to access the internet, but how could I match the timings of my clientele from the US and other countries?” he told Rest of World. When the government finally lifted the ban, Maibam set up half a dozen of his employees with home internet. He said the cost was absurdly high: $800 per month.
To get online, Yambem said he attempted to purchase Starlink on the black market.
The list of problems for entrepreneurs was seemingly endless. “Even opening a bank account was taking three months,” Okram Premjit Singh, founder of agritech startup Maiyon Agro, told Rest of World. “Accessibility to markets outside the state is almost nil. Without the airplane, we do not have any mode of transport now. We are taxed twice the amount for outward cargo.”.
Troubles in the state continue. On September 10, the government shut down the internet yet again for five days in response to a student protest. In October, part of the state was under curfew.
In July, N Biren Singh, Manipur’s chief minister, created a programme for successful startups to employ internally displaced people. But entrepreneurs told Rest of World that it is easier said than done. The crisis is ongoing, and rebuilding will be a tough task.
Kangabam said that the Manipur Technology Innovation Hub now advises entrepreneurs to focus outside the state, as there are few surviving businesses within Manipur. “We are killing each other by competing in the same city, as other districts such as Churachandpur are not accessible anymore,” he said.
Some see opportunity in the crisis: Prasanta Talukdar, general manager of North Eastern Development Finance Corporation, told Rest of World that a team from the organisation is visiting Manipur’s capital to scout for new startups. “Scaling up businesses is an issue while building up in Manipur. Entrepreneurs could see this as an opportunity to move to bigger markets,” Talukdar said.
Many entrepreneurs are not ready to move. “Diversifying within the state is easy, but moving out to a new city and setting up is like starting up again,” Yambem said. He has been hiring remote workers outside Manipur to circumvent the internet blackouts while he prepares to move to Singapore.
For now, he said, “the question is about survival, not growth”.
Sanghamitra Kar P is a reporter covering internet culture based in Bengaluru, India.
This article was originally published in Rest of World, which covers technology’s impact outside the West.
