BENGALURU: Victoria’s Secret is popular for its runway angels. Now, the international lingerie brand is itself turning into something of an angel, for startups in India.

Mast Global, the tech, manufacturing and logistics arm of L Brands that makes Victoria’s Secret lingerie, has launched a startup accelerator programme. Called Leading Entrepreneurial Accelerator Program (LEAP), it will engage with Indian startups in areas including mobility, big data, omni-channel, supply chain, marketing and security.

Mast will partner with Kyron, a leading accelerator for early-stage technology startups in Bengaluru founded by Lalit Ahuja, who was previously head of the Indian operations of US retailer Target. “LEAP will enable Mast Global to explore new technology solutions while enabling entrepreneurs to gain valuable access to domain expertise and learning. LEAP will not consider taking an equity interest in the startup as part of the engagement,” said Carol Dreska, part of the media relations team in L Brands.

Applications for the first programme open on June 1 and the selected startups will be announced by August.

This initiative comes close on the heels of L Brands establishing a global in-house centre in Bengaluru in October last year. The centre has over 300 people that support L Brands’ global technology and logistics divisions. This is perhaps the only technology development centre outside its home base in Columbus in Ohio.

Apart from Victoria’s Secret, L Brands owns brands like PINK, Bath & Body Works, and La Senza. It had $11.5 billion in sales in 2014 and employs more than 80,000 people globally. Founded by Leslie H Wexner in 1963, L Brands started with one store in the Kingsdale Shopping Centre in Columbus in Ohio. Today, it operates more than 2,900 company-owned specialty stores in the US, Canada and the UK, and its brands are sold in about 600 franchised locations globally.

Victoria’s Secret has one of its most sophisticated manufacturing units in Nellore in Andhra Pradesh. It translates lingerie designs from its headquarters in Columbus to seductive pieces of garments in three hours, a person close to the company but who did not want to be named said.

Industry experts believe that more and more global in-house centres in Bengaluru will explore partnerships with startups to differentiate their technology offerings. Last year, Target set up a specialized retail accelerator in Bengaluru, incubating startups focused on areas such as omni-channel, digital marketing, mobile, supply chain and data.

Global technology company Pitney Bowes has started an accelerator programme in India. It focuses on startups that leverage software for customer information management, mobile, data analytics, location-based services, e-commerce management and machine learning.

There are over a 1,000 global in-house centres in India, about a third of that in Bengaluru.

