Startup incubators: IIT Madras’ research arm Centre for Research on Start-ups and Risk Financing (CREST), in partnership with the in-house startup YNOS, on Monday launched an information platform on startup incubators and accelerators in India. The platform, called Incubators, helps founders identify, compare and analyse the incubator they want to be part of out of more than 920 incubators and accelerators listed.
“While India had about 1,000 active incubators, until now, the information about them was scattered and not easily available in a single location. Entrepreneurs had to spend a lot of time and effort to identify the incubator most suitable for their start-up,” IIT Madras said in a statement.
Launching the new platform, Dr Jayesh Ranjan, IAS, Principal Secretary, Departments of Information Technology, Electronics and Communications, Industries and Commerce, Government of Telangana, said, “The growth of the Indian startup ecosystem depends on a strong incubator ecosystem. Research has shown that there is a direct correlation between start-up formation and number of incubators. Recognizing this, various governments have focused on strengthening the incubation ecosystem in the country.”
Being a neutral platform, it gives an opportunity to incubators to get the attention of startup founders, policymakers, and investors and showcase the strengths of their incubation centres, he added.
Founders will be able to check startups supported by the incubator or accelerator listed on the platform along with the success ratio of the startups in getting funded, investor network of the incubator, availability of the virtual incubation support with the incubator, etc.
“Apart from providing infrastructure, access to experts, partnerships with service providers, and investor networks, incubators also significantly influence the startups’ journey. The role of an incubator and accelerator in the success of a start-up is as much as that of an investor, if not more. Therefore, it is critical that start-ups partner with the right incubator,” said Prof. Thillai Rajan, A., Professor, Department of Management Studies, IIT Madras, and Principal Investigator, CREST.
Rajan is also the Founder and Director of YNOS Venture Engine. The startup helps early-stage entrepreneurs identify potential investors, understand the startup landscape, estimate the valuation of an early-stage venture, get access to funding and expertise, and more.