ome November and those in need of assistance for home maintenance, such as cleaning, electrical work, plumbing or carpentry, can avail themselves of the service from Helpr, a start-up by Vijay, Vignesh, and Rajesh, all alumni of PSG College of Technology.
The three-member founding team had been part of other start-ups since 2009 and Helpr has serviced over 1,000 clients in Bangalore from last September.
It plans to expand to Coimbatore and Chennai by November this year.
Amoeba, another start-up by students in the city was launched recently.
It offers discount cards to retail customers and its vision is to become a single point of contact between merchants and customers for all post-purchase activities.
It was founded by Hardhik Bafna, Suraj Unnikrishnan and Depesh Vyas and they have tied-up with 35 local retailers and sold 1,500 cards in the last few days.
Expansion
These are among the start-ups that are either expanding services to Coimbatore or are initiatives by first generation entrepreneurs here, leveraging the technology platform. Though the city has a long way to go to become a start-up hub, efforts are on to nurture the eco system.
And it looks like the major thrust is coming from educational institutions, with start-up conventions, incubation facilities, infrastructure for student entrepreneurs, etc. Industrial associations and funding networks are also recognising start-ups and providing the required support.
Amrita Technology Business Incubator will soon start a facility here. It already has the required infrastructure for student start-ups.
“We are highly technology focused and we are keen on social entrepreneurship,” said Krishnashree Achuthan, its chief executive officer.
Forge, an innovation accelerator, was set up by Coimbatore Innovation and Business Incubator, at the Kumaraguru College of Technology premises. It focuses on hardware and software start-ups.
Native Angel Network, a regional network to fund start-ups launched its Coimbatore centre about six months ago.
It is working with as many as 26 start-ups now.
In the last two months, new start-ups are coming to us from nearby places such as Erode too, says Sivarajah Ramanathan, founder and president of Nativelead.
In Coimbatore, the efforts are more in the technology space.
There are start-up enthusiasts in the city, he says. In some colleges, Nativelead has programmes to select students, develop innovation and entrepreneurship, build capacities for the institute.
Sources in the industry say that when a start-up pitches for funding in a city such as Bangalore, there is a definite project and financial proposal. In Coimbatore, the proposal needs to be developed from the idea stage and hence it requires hand-holding.
Start-ups are still in a nascent stage in Coimbatore. There are some fantastic ideas and talent and we have lost some to Bangalore.
With more mentors, accelerators, and funding options, start-ups here will grow. I am optimistic.
Swathy Rohit,
Former chair of Yi, Coimbatore.
