Startups have triggered the new age gold rush in India.
Global management consultancy firms are now eyeing early stage Indian startups, and creating incubation programs to tap ‘em young and hoping to make a fortune the way Indian ecommerce poster boys Flipkart, PayTm and Snapdeal have done for their early stage promoters.
Hay India, which is the Indian arm of global management consultancy firm Hay Group having 4000 employees, will incubate 100 Indian startups; and as of now, they have mentioned they will not pick any stake or charge any fees.
Treating them as their clients, Hay India will assist these startups in formulating their business model, creating blueprints for growth and ensuring that all their business needs are met. They won’t even charge fees for their services.
An official from Hay India said, “Founders and leaders of startups can look forward to insights, guidance, mentoring and coaching, which will help them move from being a startup to a full-grown organization,”
Out of 100, they have already selected 28; and the remaining 72 would be finalized soon.
Some of the selected startups include:
- The Upcycle Project from Mumbai: They recycle glass, plastic and other materials to create artistic products
- Dharavi Market: A market place for products created at world’s largest slum Dharavi in Mumbai
- GiftXoXo: A startup which provides gifts, experiences and activities
- Ninjaas: A mobile internet services company
PricewaterhouseCoopers, which is world’s 2nd largest professional services network having 200,000 employees, and considered as one among the 4 biggest global auditors (the other three being Deloitte, EY and KPMG) has also decided to offer their services and mentorship for free.
In the initial stage, they will pick 10 Indian startups and provide them with guidance and knowledge about business acumen.
Infact, they have formed a team which will deal with some of the most pressing problems of Indian startups such as taxation, regulation, investment, risk advisory, fundraising, public relations, auditing, hiring, overseas expansion and more.
But why are they providing their services for free?
A senior PWC official said, “According to Indian laws, auditors cannot invest or pick up stake in any Indian company. So PwC would neither invest any money in these startups nor will it own any stake in these firm. What we would do is mentor them through their growth cycle.”
And the hope that couple of these selected startups will turn into the next Flipkart or Snapdeal is certainly very much in the pipeline.
PWC official further said, (jokingly, as per ET), “Well, the only hope is that at least two of the ten startups would become tomorrow’s Flipkart or Snapdeal. And when they do, they would prefer PwC for their activities like IPOs or other services.”
Even Deloitte is keen in initiating an incubation program, similar to what they run in Japan. But it seems they are wary of Indian regulations as of now.
A Deloitte India executive said, “There are a lot of international models which could be brought to India including this (startup incubation) one. However, we are very cautious as we do not want to enter any new space when there are already bigger issues at hand, like the change in Indian regulations..”
With Bangalore declared as the 2nd fastest growing startup ecosystem in the world and India as the fastest growing startup ecosystem; there has to be sustained and consistent interest from global MNCs.
But unlike management consultancy firms, Software and Internet companies are picking up stakes for incubation.
Microsoft is has already runs few incubators for Indian startups, and one for Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities as well; Target has positioned themselves well in advance for incubating India startups; Infosys has allocated Rs 750 crore for startup expansions; Snapdeal is working closely with IIM Ahmedabad’s incubation program; Paypal is luring student entrepreneurs with their incubation program; Intel is promoting startups into wearable technology; Alibaba is focusing on mobile startups in India; and even Indian Govt. has allocated a special funds for startups and created incubation centers.
Here are the top 10 incubators in India.