By | Published: 12:41 am 6:25 pm

Hyderabad: The startup ecosystem in the country has been witnessing some significant growth in the past few years. And the major contributors to this have been the incubators and accelerators that these startups thrive in. With an attempt to scale up the startup ecosystem in India, Nasscom set up its 10K startups programme in about 22 cities in 2013. The Hyderabad chapter of this incubator has already seen 11 startups graduate from its cohort and currently has six startups present in its current cohort.

The centre in Hyderabad situated in T-Hub has also seen three startups close funding rounds in just six months of the calendar year. The total funding of the three startups – that include Imaginate and Ambee – has been close to around $1.5 million.

Speaking about the ecosystem and the incubator Vijay Bawra, regional manager, AP and TS Nasscom 10K Startups Telangana said, “We want to make a positive impact in as many startups as possible and also provide these startups access to the larger ecosystem. While most of the startups that come to us are in the early stage of ideation, we actually help them make a product out of it and then provide them access to funding, mentoring and industry support.”

One of the startups incubated in the cohort called Flytta credits the support provided by Nasscom 10K startups to its growth and success in the last one year. “They help us in solving the day to day challenges that we as a startup face and this has helped us in securing access to market and also mentoring us,” said Rahul Kanuganti, founder, Flytta.

The programme aims to enable incubation, funding and support for 10,000 technology start-ups in India by 2023. Its vision is to foster entrepreneurship, build entrepreneurial capabilities at scale and strengthen early stage support for tech start-ups. Since its launch the 10K startups has received 13,800 applicants and shortlisted 2,276 startups in the country. The program is supported by Google for Entrepreneurs, Microsoft Ventures, Kotak, Amazon Web Services and IBM.

Not only internal support, the programme also connects startups with diverse stakeholders through the lobby groups annual conferences and conclaves.

Going forward Bawra is positive about taking on-board as many tech-based startups as possible. “We also have a virtual cohort wherein we are supporting about 50 startups and every quarter we have a selection process for the startups,” he said.