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While every start-up owner would like to think that his/her business is going to be successful, investors don’t think the same way. Investors have their own perspective and proven formula which focuses on the profitability and the scalability of the company’s business. For a start-up, capital infusion is the fuel that can fire up their growth in the right direction. Incubators and Accelerators come into the picture at this point. They have the financing capabilities and experiences in converting a new business into a billion-dollar success. Their abilities to jump-start a business and give it a proper push helps a start-up to grow much faster.
If you are into the data analytics and data management niche, this list of top data start-up Incubators and Accelerators operating in India will be of great help to you:
1) Aarambh Ventures
Launched in Greater Noida in the year 2016, Aarambh Ventures has provided funding to multiple entrepreneurs. It aims to find entrepreneurs who can solve a problem. Aarambh has a two-stage incubation program for budding start-up entrepreneurs. In the first stage, it sets up an idea lab for start-ups at IIT-Roorkee (with whom it has a tie-up) which provides all the required tech support and infrastructure.
In the second stage, it carries out a 16-week accelerator program at Greater Noida. It also plans to include 100 start-ups into its programme in the next two years with hopes of achieving a success rate of 20% in them.
2) Cisco Launchpad
Based in Bangalore, the Cisco Launchpad was started in the year 2016. It has an innovative eco-system which is quite helpful for early-stage start-ups. It has a four-month accelerator programme that helps to scale. Also, it provides multiple benefits like industry connect, workshops, co-working space, speaker sessions and mentorship programs.
Cisco also provides start-ups with access to its advanced technology platforms in IOT, collaboration, security, networking, cloud, and wireless/mobility. Start-ups are provided $500 per month to support their IT needs and also they get $8000 upon graduation.
3) GHV Accelerator
Started by the popular serial entrepreneur Vikram Upadhyaya, this Accelerator provides a six months programme for budding entrepreneurs. The controlled environment along with the required resources helps start-ups immensely to build scalability. It inspires start-ups to have healthy business metrics to enable them to receive the series A funding.
It mostly provides funding from $50k-$200K and is mostly focused on areas of AI, Healthtech, Fintech, IOT, Big data, Saas, AR/VR. Some of the notable graduates from its class include My Taxi India, FitmeIn and Applop. Some start-ups which have also received follow-on funding are Applop, CarMP, AddUrCup and FoodPort.
4) HP Haven start-up Accelerator program
Headquartered in California, it was established by HP in the year 2015. It mostly focuses on Big Data Solutions. Its primary objective is to help those early-stage companies that can provide world-class solutions in the field of Big Data. It has a platform called HP Haven Big Data which helps start-ups to design Data analytics solutions for their customers.
The accelerator also provides HP products and tools to early-stage developers at discounted prices. Its selection criteria for start-ups is quite stringent and only selects those companies which are less than 5 years old, have received funding of less than $10 mn and have a revenue of $0-$10 mn.
5) LEAP
An Accelerator programme introduced by the premier supply chain major Mast Global Ltd along with Kyron Global, the LEAP program mostly focuses on Omnichannel, Big Data, Supply chain, Marketing, Mobility, and security. It has an eight-week program to engage with Indian Start-up companies to innovate and explore new technology solutions.
The startup program also provides access to domain research and learning which can be quite valuable for new entrepreneurs. The accelerator programs provide first-rate benefits including working with the top Leadership teams from Mast Global and also a demo day with top investors and brand leaders.
6) Target Accelerator
The world famous Target departmental store also has an accelerator program for budding entrepreneurs. Introduced in Bangalore in the year 2014, it invests in those early stage start-ups which help to increase targets’ business along with innovation in the retail industry. It provides an advanced lab specially designed to inspire and innovate.
It is interesting to note that the program’s screening process is quite stringent with multiple processes and stages. After the selection, a seed funding of up to $30,000 is provided to the start-up. It mostly focuses on areas related to retail technologies like Omnichannel, Marketing, Big Data Analytics, Mobile and merchandising.
7) The D.N.A
An initiative by the automotive giant Bosch, the D.N.A stands for discovering start-ups, nurturing them, and aligns them to get investment ready and be profitable businesses. It is mostly interested in those start-ups which have a disruptive nature.
Its focus areas include agritech, mobility, energy, aerospace, smart cities, and medtech. Once a start-up is successfully accelerated, it is provided with a valuable opportunity to pitch to Bosch. Top Bosch experts provide mentorships to the selected candidates and also guide them in product designs and operations.
8) Thought Factory
Launched in the year 2016, it is also based in India’s start-up capital city Bengaluru. It is funded by Axis bank along with Zone startups. It was the first time a private bank launched an Innovation Lab with an incubation hub. Axis bank wanted to work closely with budding entrepreneurs who are innovating in the field of digital banking and along with related segments like deposits, wealth management, mobile payments, security etc.
The chosen startups will receive funding, development tools, workspace, networking opportunities along with mentorship by top experts. Its selection criteria for startups include:
- It must be a registered Indian company.
- It should have a minimum viable product also called as MVP.
- Its office space can only accommodate just five to six persons per start-up.
- Axis bank doesn’t provide cash grants nor take any equity from the start-up.
9) Z Nation Lab
It’s headquartered in the financial capital of India, Mumbai. Z Nation Lab was started by Neha Jain, Anup Mehta and Khusboo Jain. It has a very intensive programme spread over six weeks. The programme will be conducted in India for 3 weeks and thereafter it will be held in the Silicon Valley. At Silicon Valley, start-ups would be identified based on their uniqueness.
New entrepreneurs would be provided with an opportunity to interact with Venture capitalists, Industry experts, angels and venture partners. It’s a massive programme with affiliate partners in many cities of India like Pune, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Chennai, Indore and the Silicon Valley.
The firm also provides an opportunity to work in the United States. The average ticket size it funds is between $50,000 and $2,50,000 per start-up. Its focus areas include IOT, Big Data Analytics and Fintech.
10) Zone Startups
A joint venture of the Ryerson University of Toronto, Simon Fraser University of Canada, Ryerson Futures Inc and the Bombay Stock Exchange Institute Ltd, it is headquartered in the bustling city of Mumbai. It’s the first Canadian led Accelerator in India. Zone Startups has a structured program for new start-ups to help them scale up and also provide guidance as to how the products can resonate with the consumers. Its areas of focus include IOT, Social, Consumer, Fintech, Big Data Analytics etc.
While it’s not impossible to scale up without an Accelerator or an Incubator, nobody can deny that without them, most of the start-ups would not have achieved the kind of traction that they witnessed after infusion of capital from start-up incubator programs.
Accelerators not only help start-ups grow at a much quicker pace but also help them to survive in lean times. If an analogy can be provided, Accelerators for startups are like parents are for a new born child. If you are in the data management space, you can connect with these incubators to help scale your business to the next level of growth and competitive advantage.
