Bengaluru: After tasting success in setting up start-up warehouse in Bengaluru, the National Association of Software & Services (Nasscom) on Wednesday announced the inauguration of its second warehouse in the city in the presence of Chief Minister of Karnataka Mr. Siddaramaiah; Minister for Bengaluru Development and Town Planning, Mr. K.J. George; President, Nasscom, Mr. R Chandrashekhar, and Vice President, Nasscom 10,000 startups, Mr Rajat Tandon.
Over the years, Bangalore has developed as the start-up capital of India. The city has nearly 3,100 to 4,900 dynamic tech start-ups and has attained the second highest growth rate for exit volume and VC investment among the top 20. The warehouse currently has 20 start-ups and with the new space, the warehouse will consist of 100 start-ups. There will be 5 seats allotted to one start-up. The start-ups will operate for six months. The entrepreneurs will have a list of benefits which could help polish their entrepreneurial skills as well as polish their marketing ability including; Connect sessions, early stage mentoring, access to resources from Google, Amazon, Microsoft, IBM cloud, Kotak banking etc. The selection would be finalized by a selection committee comprising of stakeholders from the government as well as the industry, namely Government of Karnataka and Nasscom. They will be required to sign a lease agreement with the Start-up Warehouse.
The NASSCOM warehouse is a four folds expansion from 10,000 Sq. ft. to 40,000 Sq. ft. area. The warehouse will be equipped with Internet of Things (IoT) Labs, Design Labs & Mobile Experience Labs.
Internet of things Labs: A space for incubating IoT/hardware-play start-ups as they build, test and validate concepts and prototypes. It’ll be a meeting place for industry practitioners to share best practices, case studies with these start-ups and for peer founders to learn and assist each other. These will be feeder to the NASSCOM-Diety IoT Labs.
Design Labs: The Design Labs will be a co-working, co-learning space for ideation and creation of user centric design products. It will house multi-function spaces, innovative tools, usability studios and digital whiteboards for cutting edge design collaborations and ideation sessions. It will also serve as a center for excellence for design practitioners to gather and share best practices.
Mobile Experience Labs: The Mobile Experience Lab will allow developers, designers and startups access to a wide range of mobile devices from multiple major vendors across all major platforms for testing and building of next generation mobile products and technologies. Testing mobile applications across different platforms and devices helps ensure apps are accessible and fully functional.
Mr. Siddaramaiah, said, “Karnataka has traditionally been an entrepreneurially rich ecosystem. Over the years, the city has seen an unprecedented growth in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. We are committed to scaling this even further and are pleased to co-opt with NASSCOM to make this dream a reality. NASSCOM start-up warehouse will further provide a platform for the talented entrepreneurs and give them the space they require. The Government is happy to cooperate and support such programs in order to boost the entrepreneurial culture of the city.”
Mr. Rajat Tandon, Vice President, NASSCOM 10,000 Start-ups, said, “Karnataka is an entrepreneurial hub. Bangalore is easily the best place to start-up in India right now. There is easy access to capital and a relative abundance of talented youth who are passionate about working for start-ups. The expansion will help nurture over 500 entrepreneurs under one roof, thereby, driving growth and foster innovation under one roof, where start-ups can share knowledge and help build an inclusive yet vibrant economy”.
The start-ups can bring in up to four team members into the incubation program. All start-ups will get showcased at select NASSCOM events and other events of partner organizations. The Start-up warehouse will also host meetings and workshops with innovators and leaders from the technology and business community. With this expansion, NASSCOM aspires to impact 200+ startups by the next quarter from Bangalore adding to the overall 10K impact number.