Hyderabad: Software industry lobby group Nasscom Tuesday opened a facility for startups in Visakhapatnam, where technology entrepreneurs with innovative ideas will be nurtured, mentored and funded.
The so-called startup warehouse at Sunrise Tower will provide co-working space for start-ups, to be housed for six-month incubation terms. Entrepreneurs can also lease co-working spaces on daily/weekly basis.
It will also hold regular meet-ups and workshops to teach founders entrepreneurial skills in marketing, besides giving them access to early-stage mentors. Nasscom’s technology partners Google for Entrepreneurs, Microsoft Ventures, Amazon Web Services and IBM Cloud will also hold periodic sessions to educate budding entrepreneurs.
“Vishakhapatnam has great scope to emerge as a strong start-up hub in the coming years. The entrepreneurs here should be given a favourable and encouraging environment to establish themselves as creators of unique technology products,” R. Chandrasekhar, president of Nasscom said in a statement. “Through this strategic partnership with the Government of Andhra Pradesh, Nasscom aims to establish a robust start-ups community and culture in the state which influences innovation in technology to further help the society.”
Nasscom signed an in-principle agreement with the Andhra Pradesh government on Tuesday for its 10,000 startups initiative in Visakhapatnam. The initiative aims to scale up the startup ecosystem in India by 10 times over the next 10 years. Nasscom will incubate, fund and provide support for 10,000 technology startups in India over the next decade.
Since its beginning in April 2013, Nasscom has incubated 140 startups, of which 25 have been funded. It has set up startup warehouses in Bengaluru, Kolkata, Navi Mumbai, Pune, Kochi, Gurgaon and Hyderabad. The idea behind the startup warehouses is that they help create a micro-ecosystem allowing several startups to work alongside of each other and collaborate on ideas.
“To create a more vibrant start up ecosystem in the region, we need partnerships like these which help in encouraging the local entrepreneurs,” Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said after the signing ceremony.
[“source-Livemint”]