As many as 30 start-ups have been incubated at the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) Start-up Warehouse functioning from the Infopark campus at Kakkanad. Its first anniversary still more than a month away.
The start-ups, which had incubated and subsequently moved out of the warehouse, had collectively generated around 150 jobs. Three batches of entrepreneurs have completed incubation, while the fourth batch is set to complete its incubation in January. Apart from start-ups that are physically incubated, over 10 are virtually supported.
Two of the incubatees from the warehouse also visited the Silicon Valley under an international exchange programme, thanks to the Kerala Startup Mission.
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Set up as part of Nasscom’s 10,000 Start-up Programme, the warehouse began functioning out of a 6,500 sq.ft. building at Infopark last January. The first anniversary of the warehouse will coincide with the pitch for the fifth batch of potential entrepreneurs.
The Start-up Warehouse admits only IT product start-ups, considering that they are the ones that need extensive incubation to mature and flourish unlike service start-ups.
“We brought Nasscom Startup Warehouse to Infopark to provide a solid foundation for IT start-ups, thereby enhancing the visibility of Infopark. That 30 start-ups have already incubated from the facility is proof that the move has paid off big time,” Infopark CEO Hrishikesh Nair said.
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The warehouse offers space for five to 10 start-ups at a time, with each start-up eligible for up to six seats. Start-ups are given an incubation period of six months, extendable subject to the decision of the steering committee. Early stage start-ups are few and far between, with majority of entrepreneurs being in the age bracket of 30-plus with considerable level of entrepreneurial experience.
Potential entrepreneurs can apply for admission to the warehouse on the website of Nasscom’s 10,000 Startup Programme. The initially selected start-ups are vetted by Nasscom’s global partners including IT giants Microsoft and Google. The second level of vetting is done by Nasscom weeding out service and e-commerce start-ups zeroing in on innovative start-ups.
The final selection is made by the screening committee comprising Kerala Startup Mission CEO Jayasankar Prasad; Infopark CEO Hrishikesh Nair; Tata Consultancy Services centre head Dinesh Thampi; Sunil Balakrishnan of UST Global, and Mukund Krishna of Suyati Technologies.