Nasscom expands start-up warehouse programme

Mumbai: Software lobby group Nasscom is expanding its start-up warehouse programme to Kolkata, Pune, Mumbai and Hyderabad. The warehouse, as defined by Nasscom, is a co-working facility that can be leased by start-ups for six months at a nominal cost. It has plug-and-play facilities with high-speed Internet connections of up to 10 Mbps, and basic utilities like electricity and water.

The first such facility was set up in Bengaluru in 2013. This is a part of Nasscom’s 10,000 start-ups programme, where it partners with software companies to mentor and establish 10,000 start-ups by 2023 in India.

“After we successfully started the first start-up warehouse in the country in Bangalore in 2013, we are now looking to expand this facility and it should be ready by the first quarter of 2015. Apart from that, we are also in the process of setting up similar start-up warehouses in Kolkata, Pune, Mumbai and Hyderabad, in conjunction with their respective state governments,” said Rajat Tandon, senior director of Nasscom’s 10,000 start-ups programme.

On 13 August, Mint had reported that the Karnataka government is investing about Rs.5 crore to build a 50,000 sq. ft start-up warehouse, which may house well over 200 start-ups and will be located in the Diamond District locality of Bengaluru. It was expected to start functioning by November, which has now been postponed to the first quarter of 2015. This warehouse was an expansion of the first such warehouse occupying an area of 9,000 sq ft, which was started on 8 August 2013 by Nasscom and the Karnataka government. This warehouse accommodates 75 entrepreneurs who pay a fee of Rs.3,500 a month per seat as leasing and utility charges to Nasscom. Currently, there are 19 start-ups utilizing Nasscom’s Bengaluru start-up warehouse.

The second warehouse is set to come up in Kolkata by the end of this month. “The West Bengal government has given us space spanning 25,000 sq. ft for the start-up warehouse. However, in the first phase we will be occupying an area of 5,000 sq. ft, seating up to 40-50 entrepreneurs, and only after this initial space is at full utilization, will we consider expanding to accommodate any additional demand from Kolkata start-ups,” said Ravi Gururaj, chairman of Nasscom’s product council.

The third warehouse in Pune, sponsored by Pune MIDC, is scheduled to open by March. It will cover an area of approximately 4,500-7,500 sq. ft with seating for about 80 people. Subsequent start-up warehouses are in the process of being set up in Mumbai and Hyderabad next year, added Tandon.

Besides promoting entrepreneurship by providing a space for start-ups to operate from, Nasscom through its warehouse facilities also facilitates funding and incubation by connecting the start-ups with “accelerators”, or companies that will fund or partner with the start-ups or acquire them. This also gives the start-ups a headstart with greater exposure to the industry and to opportunities.

“For example, one of the start-ups operating out of our Bangalore warehouse, Bookpad, was acquired by Yahoo Inc in September,” Tandon added.

“In order to connect all these start-up warehouses with each other and promote common mentoring and provide a multi-tier platform for all the start-ups in different locations to talk to each other, Nasscom is also looking at connecting all the locations through technology like telepresence, Skype and more, which is part of the Nasscom Startups Innovation Network strategy. This will ensure that there is no bottleneck of start-ups in one city,” said Rajiv Vaishnav, vice-president for Mumbai region of Nasscom.

Nasscom is currently in the third phase of its 10,000 start-ups programme. Since inception, 51 start-ups have used Nasscom’s start-up warehouse in Bengaluru in the past one year. As per the Nasscom Startup report 2014 released on 29 October, India is the third largest start-up ecosystem globally, after the US and UK, with 3,100 start-ups and 225 angel investment deals worth over $2 billion.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.