Hyderabad will soon see a unicorn startup: T-Hub CEO

Hyderabad: A startup associated with T-Hub is likely to achieve unicorn status very soon. Even amid the ongoing pandemic situation, the business incubator has helped startups like Chitmonks, Drink Prime and Pulse raise funding through its flagship programme Lab32.

T-Hub's corporate innovation programme has impacted MNCs from across the world such as Raytheon Technologies, Boeing, and Oppo. Its corporate memberships and partnerships have enabled more than 350 startups to collaborate, present Proof of Concept work, raise money or get acquired by larger corporates. Among them, 100 startups are from the city.

After successfully nurturing more than 1,800 startups over the last five years, T-Hub is now looking forward to enabling its startups to help solve problems for the global market. Backed by the Telangana government, it continues to evaluate partnerships with the international and national government bodies, research institutes and ecosystem enablers.

"T-Hub has forged some strong international connects in the last year, with the South Korean Government, Japan Investment and Cooperation Agency (JICA) and others, which helped create over 390 international startup connects," Ravi Narayan, CEO, T-Hub said in an exclusive interview with Bizz Buzz.

Excerpts:

Till now, what is the overall funding received by the startups incubated at T-Hub?

startups associated with T-Hub raised about Rs 1,860 crore investment. T-Hub improves startups' ability to raise capital through its various interventions and workshops. A testament to this is that despite the pandemic, our startups raised a total Rs.100 crore investment in the past 12 months.

Are there any startups that are on the way to unicorn status?

Telangana innovation ecosystem is maturing in different sectors like life sciences, agritech, and other healthcare sectors using advanced technologies like Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. All the sectors that these startups are thriving have a larger gestation period. But we will be seeing a few startups reaching unicorn status in the future with the support from all the ecosystem enablers of the State.

T-Hub has proactively reached out to VCs with curated startups and expects mega deals to follow in the coming days. Last month, T-Hub had two rounds of focussed meetings with a group of select VCs wherein in the first round, healthcare devices startups had made their pitches and in the second round, semiconductor players pitched their business plans. In T-Hub, we believe there is a movement in the right direction, and we will see more Series-C, Series-D investments in the coming days before you see more unicorns popping up out of Hyderabad.

Why there is a delay in the construction of the second phase building of T-Hub?

Initially, the work was delayed due to various factors, while the Covid-19 pandemic had led to further delay.

How much is being invested by the state government?

T-Hub phase-2 is being built by Telangana government at a cost of Rs.276 crore.

Can you let us know more about the facilities that will be offered to startups at the new building?

T-Hub phase-2 will house more than 1,500 startups. It will be a microcosm of the innovation ecosystem. It will not just house startups but will house corporations, investors, and other ecosystem enablers. It will be known as a centre for startup innovation, corporate innovation, and ecosystem innovation. These are key for generating demand. Due to this robust innovation ecosystem that T-Hub has built, we have seen a rise in the number of startups from 400 then to about 2,000 now, and phase-2 will further boost this growth.

Is there any development in setting up T-Hub facilities in tier-II cities of Telangana?

Facilities similar to T-Hub will soon be established in tier-2 cities such as Warangal, Karimnagar, and Khammam by the government in the State to foster innovation and entrepreneurship. By decentralising the IT industry, the State government has planned to expand it to tier-II cities. The Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TSIIC) has built an IT Incubation Centre in Warangal on a two-acre land. Meanwhile, in Karimnagar, an IT centre is being constructed in an area of 51,600 sq ft.

T-Hub is also focusing on becoming the source of demand for innovation by creating innovation economy in the state. Its strategy will also include creating a strong funding ecosystem here for our startups and create innovation pathways for startups, ecosystem enablers from tier 2 and tier 3 cities. T-Hub will act as a springboard to help startups from these regions scale up and go global.