PayPal’s Chennai development centre will soon be home to more than just its staff as it plays host to one-of-a-kind start-up incubator to promote a culture of entrepreneurship and help boost the growing technology start-up ecosystem in the country.
Incubation centres are becoming increasingly popular in India, as they allow start-ups to avoid initial costs while giving them time to roll out their first product and secure a first round of funding.
Under a partnership with The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) Chennai, PayPal is all set to provide office space, mentoring, technical training, and networking opportunities to start-ups.
Though the online payments provider has incubators in its Boston and New York offices, this is the first time that the company has tied up with an external agency to do so, according to Anupam Pahuja, General Manager, PayPal Development Centers India.
“TiE Chennai will serve as a funnel, and largely identify the entrepreneurs while providing business mentorship. We’ll take them, give technology expertise, and even help them connect with VCs,” Mr. Pahuja said, while addressing reporters here on Monday.
The first batch of start-ups will consist of 8-10 companies, with a couple of companies already settling into the incubation centre, while the average incubation period will be 12 months.
PayPal, Mr. Pahuja said, was looking at this purely from a “giving back” perspective, and “will not pick up a stake or make profit from any of the companies that go through the incubation process.”
“We don’t want entrepreneurs to be worried about rental deposits or anything like that. Too many companies in India are focussing on only delivering to the client… we want them to become the client,” he said.
