India’s gig workforce is growing…

About 4 million gig workers adapt their working lives to the algorithmic touch of platform- based apps across food delivery, home services, ride hailing, logistics and more. Showing strong signs of growth, this tech-powered slice of India’s gig workforce is estimated to grow to 24 million by 2030.

Technology unlocks demand and supply at scale, connecting workers and service-seekers in real time; and operates through a growing constellation of smartphone apps and platforms (Swiggy, Urban Company, Dunzo) that match jobs, manage payments, schedule tasks, and track performance.

For real-time, algorithm driven gig-matching apps and the gig economy overall, growth is imminent. The sector is growing at a CAGR of 17%, top 10 platforms have grown at an average annual rate of 20-30% over the past five years, and BCG estimates that real-time job matching platforms could eventually transact USD 250 billion in work volume over time. But it doesn’t stop there!

The next wave of growth beckons a new wave of innovation..

Looking ahead, platformisation or the introduction of smartphone-first gig-like models are expected to expand far beyond today’s core service areas. This expectation is buoyed by industry demand for easy discoverability, competitive recruitment and efficient tasking; as well as the changing nature of work in sectors that have traditionally employed casual and daily wage workers. Target markets for gig work are getting increasingly serviced by platformised gig-workers and showing signs of rapid growth. For instance, the home services sector is growing at a rate of 10% CAGR and is estimated to reach INR 8000 CR by 2029. In fact, studies by NITI Aayog and BCG highlight strong interest in platformisation of a wide range of unskilled, low- and medium-skilled jobs in sectors like construction, logistics, manufacturing, and retail, indicating potential transition of over 70 million jobs!

This means creating a digitalisation experience for the offline gig workers which would include bringing them online, making them algorithmically visible and also creating enough upskilling avenues to aid career progression into higher value added services.

And this is where startup innovation can step in!

What startups can build for India’s next generation of gig workers

For founders looking to build for the next wave of India’s gig economy, here are some potential innovation opportunities to unlock:

1) Bring workers online

Most new workers entering the platform economy will be low-skilled, with little or no digital experience.

Opportunity: Develop offline-to-online bridges that help workers start their digital journey. This could include setting up assisted onboarding kiosks in worker-dense areas such as factory hubs or construction sites where workers can create digital profiles with the help of field agents. Additionally, design worker-friendly apps that simplify registration, introduce digital tools in local languages, and build comfort with app-based workflows to enable responsible transition.

2) Understand search and matching alone won’t cut it

In sectors like construction and mining, to create platform-based hiring, pricing and upskilling opportunities employers need reliable signals of skill and performance, and workers need trust to move and stay online.

Opportunity: Once workers are online, they need to prove their skills and experience across employers and platforms. Startups can leverage ONEST to create solutions that aggregate and validate worker data. ONEST provides the data rails for decentralised and interoperable communication between seekers (learners, employment seekers, etc) and providers (universities, employers, trainers/teachers). This could take the form of phygital attestation services where trusted local partners (contractors, supervisors) verify experience and upload it to digital profiles. Startups could also aggregate blue dot profiles for workers that allow workers to add verified skills, certifications, and performance records. These can be integrated with ONEST as skill passports for seamless portability across apps and platforms.

3) Break open siloed credentialing systems

Most gig apps use in-app rating systems and performance reviews to rank and allocate tasks. These direct worker progression metrics are locked within individual app ecosystems. Even seasoned workers often find themselves starting from scratch when switching platforms, forced to re-prove skills and rebuild reputations from zero.

Opportunity: Workers need dynamic, portable credentials that grow with every gig across platforms and employers. Startups can plug into ONEST’s interoperable backbone to build solutions that stack formal certifications with on-the-job experience, aggregating both online and offline data into living, evolving profiles.

For example, design cross-platform performance aggregators that compile ratings, feedback, and task completion data from multiple apps, creating a unified, verifiable record of worker competence. Or develop real-time skill badges and dynamic endorsements that plug directly into blue dot profiles.

Alongside, create feedback intelligence tools that analyze performance trends and help workers set goals, understand where they stand, and plan their next steps. And finally, layer on AI-driven learning companions preferably through a Whatsapp interface that guides workers through pricing and allocation models, helping them navigate transitions between roles, apps, and even sectors.

4) Enable continuous, flexible, open upskilling

While training gig workers is essentially a physical offline task given low levels of digital literacy, customised online tools can be leveraged to lower cognitive burdens of learning through quizzes, retention tasks, etc.

Opportunity: Startups can build interoperable, personalized skilling solutions that plug into ONEST and empower gig workers to grow across roles, platforms, and sectors.

Think of dynamic verticalized skilling marketplaces that aggregate (and/or gamify) a wide range of training resources from digital literacy to advanced, stackable certifications, curating personalized learning journeys that align user context and market demand. Startups could also design AI-powered companions that guide workers through personalized learning paths and recommend targeted upskilling to move up and across sectors. Plugging such solutions into ONEST will ensure acquired credentials are visible and recognized wherever workers go.

5) Embed financial enablers

Gig workers need credit to invest in their growth, whether in new skills or to purchase assets and equipment (e.g. a two wheeler for deliveries). Capital is often a chief inhibitor.

Opportunity: Create microloans and pay-later skilling products that factor worker performance (from cross-platform ratings) in underwriting. For instance, partner with existing platforms to integrate gig-credit dashboard that show workers earning trends and recommend eligible loan products. Designed flexible EMI features for pay-as-you-go skilling loans that reward good performance with better loan terms.

In sum, platformising gig workers must be a process of innovating platform capabilities to gather/utilise/leverage information about gig workers for reducing verification costs, increasing upskilling opportunities, and disrupting the interoperability of credentialing data.

A call to action

While the opportunity is vast, building for Bharat’s gig workforce isn’t easy. The market is fragmented, digitally naive, and low-income.  But startups that focus on this segment can build sticky, high-LTV businesses. The time to build is now.