This is probably a mere coincidence, but it is an interesting one. The Startup Guy, Vijay Anand, has just unveiled a new venture. He calls it The Startup Centre, an initiative that aims to create a physical community centre for entrepreneurs and the associated universe. Anand dubs it the ‘open incubation model’.
Some may recall that around June last year, Anand stepped back from his role as chief evangelist (he prefers the term ‘çurator’) of startup showcase forum Proto.in to work on a new project. The Startup Centre is the second initiative launched this month by a founding member of the startup unconferencing movement that kicked off in India just a few years ago. Last week we talked about the launch of HeadStart Ventures, started by HeadStart Network Foundation co-founder Kallol Borah. Proto.in and HeadStart Network Foundation are now established startup showcase forums here. Their success seems to have begun to spawn new initiatives, led (not surprisingly) by their alumni, to take the development of the startup ecosystem to the next level.
Chennai will be the venue for The Startup Centre’s launch and Anand is currently scouting a suitable venue and sponsors in and around the information technology corridor there. The focus for now will be on technology-related startups, particularly in the mobile and Internet spaces. Future plans involve going national, starting with Pune, tentatively in the first quarter of 2011. “The centre in Chennai will give us an indication of process, costs and acceptance,” he says.
What entrepreneurs can expect from The Startup Centre:
- Young startups, with as small as one or two-member teams, can use the centre at a nominal monthly fee. There will also be a per day membership fee option.
- Facilities include conferencing and brainstorming rooms, bean bags, wifi and whiteboards — basic stuff one would need to crank out a prototype, as Anand puts it.
- The centre will also host training programmes, Barcamps, technology/design/entrepreneurship workshops and other networking events that would help entrepreneurs.
- The centre will create opportunities for entrepreneurs to interact with lawyers, accountants, venture capitalists and mentors.
There’s more. Entrepreneurs who seek support beyond the facilities offered by The Startup Centre could enter into an equity arrangement with the centre in lieu of fund-raising support or even direct investments. This will probably be on a selective basis and not too many details are available yet on how this would be structured. Equity as payment for support, specifically at the fund-raising stage, is available from several other incubators in the country and is fast catching on as a business model in itself. “Fund-raising hopefully will be the last thing we will do. It requires much closer hand-holding and involvement with the companies,” says Anand. He also says he is not looking at raising a seed fund at this stage.
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I wouldnt quite call it an Incubator. Let me try to explain a bit:
1. One of the agendas is to bring together people of various backgrounds – artists, musicians, entrepreneurs, hackers, designers. It is my belief that if they are all under the same roof, the medicci effect will kick in. Some awesome ideas will come out of the process.
2. The space can then be used to collaborate and crank out a first level of the idea – after that you can probably take it to a proper incubation centre where they might guide you further
3. Fund raising is really out of the picture right now. The way I see fundraising happening, is that maybe… just maybe, angels might become part of this entire process and give some money. I am not holding my breathe on that one. The last thing We want to do is run a fund – especially other people’s money.
4. As Alok Mittal put it, its a fun centre, a creative space where ideas are born – and in india, good ideas are still hard to come by.