Economic boom and bust cycles can have significantly different effects on different industries. In the last decade, economic indicators have shifted due to a host of global events, making it increasingly important for investors to consider investing in companies less resistant to these economic shocks. Fundamentally, investing in an early-stage business should be viewed as a long-term opportunity, so market cycles should not discourage you as an investor. Additionally, a recession is an excellent time to make investments due to the pessimism in overall markets, which usually leads to low asset prices. 

In public markets, there is a concept called Dollar-Cost-Averaging which is the practice of systematically investing equal amounts of money at regular intervals, regardless of the price of a security, this means when the price of the security is low, your average purchase price reduces even further and considering you are investing for the long-term, the rate of return on the security is higher. In the same vein, investing in early-stage businesses when prices are low, should be viewed as an opportunity to buy into a company at an attractive price, as long as you believe in the long-term future of the company. With that in mind, here are three industries to watch this year:

in 2021, investment in educational technologies surged to unprecedented levels. With the development of online learning and immersive content, education providers have revolutionized how learning is delivered. As remote learning becomes even more widespread and education resources become more accessible to all, EdTech is expected to remain a growing industry in the year 2023, regardless of an economic downturn, as educational institutions would look to incorporate more interactive learning tools that were used during the pandemic as well as more families opting to use alternative methods to educate their kids. As education is a systemic component of any developing society, we can only expect EdTechs to continue growing in the long term.

The consumer demand for cloud kitchens, delivery services, and marketplaces for fresh, healthy food is increasingly attractive for many investors. In addition, food delivery services are expected to remain in high order due to their convenience, especially for individuals in urban areas. As these services become increasingly popular with consumers and restaurants alike, investing in such services could be a safe bet for investors and with the advent of delivery services like UberEATS and FoodPanda, as well as the ever-growing popularity of cloud kitchens and marketplaces, there has never been a better time to be in the food business.

As artificial intelligence and automation become widely adopted, several industries are finding new applications for these technologies. AI and automation are revolutionizing systems in many industries and making tasks more efficient and cost-effective. For example, services like robotics process automation (RPA) enable organizations to automate complex workflows quickly and easily with minimal human intervention, which reduces costs and increases customer satisfaction. Similarly, automated machine learning (ML) algorithms can be used to improve the efficacy of customer service or boost the accuracy of complex decision-making processes.

As an investor, the last thing you want to do is follow trends or attempt to predict where the market is heading. Instead, you want to find an industry you understand or one you want to learn more about and imagine what the future of that industry could look like 10 - 20 years from now. While specific sectors are less sensitive to market conditions, startup investing is focused on the long-term; therefore, a recession is probably the best time to get favourable valuations that are relatively lower than a bull market.

Consider industries that are rapidly changing and expanding. For example, food Services, EdTech and AI & Automation, are all rapidly growing markets that are worth exploring further. In addition, industries that offer an essential service or product often become even more critical during times of economic hardship; this includes products such as food delivery services, cloud kitchens or online marketplaces. Keeping these in mind when evaluating potential investments, can help you make informed decisions about where to put your money.