Banking solutions for startups: Public sector lender Indian Bank on Wednesday announced setting up 10 startup cells across different centres in the country. The cells will cater to a number of dedicated banking products and services designed for startups according to their specialised banking needs, according to a PTI report. This includes payment gateways, corporate credit cards and credit facilities apart from current facilities by the bank.
The startup cells are set up in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, New Delhi, Gurugram, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kanpur, and Mumbai. “The launch of the startup cells is a major milestone in Indian Bank’s journey to support the growth of the startup ecosystem in India,” said SL Jain, MD and CEO, Indian Bank post-inauguration of a centre in Chennai.
Jain also virtually inaugurated nine startup cells in various cities to commemorate the bank’s 117th Foundation Day on Tuesday. The bank has also a customised loan offering for startups ‘IND SPRINGBOARD’ to cater to their unique financial challenges.
Indian Bank was incorporated on March 5, 1907, with an authorized capital of Rs 20 lakh and started its business on August 15, 1907.
Over the years, banks have increasingly reached out to startups to offer various banking services in order to tap into the potential business opportunities. For instance, the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) last month announced its partnership with the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad’s (IIM-A) startup incubator CIIE. Also, IDFC First Bank, ICICI Bank and others offer various banking products for startups.
According to the Startup India data, India had 99,380 recognised startups so far in India. , Startup India was unveiled in January 2016 and comprises 19 action items spanning areas such as simplification and handholding, funding support and incentives and industry-academia partnership and incubation.
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Indian startup ecosystem had registered a 72 per cent decline in funding in H1 2023 compared to H1 2022, according to the India Tech semi-annual report 2023 by market intelligence platform Tracxn. The total funding in H1 2023 was about $5.5 billion, significantly lower than the $19.7 billion in the first half of 2022. The early-stage rounds of funding were also impacted with $1.4 billion deployed in the first half of this year, declining by 44 per cent from the previous half-year.