What do Indian Startups Expect from Startup Accelerators? [Report]

Future of Startup Accelerators and Entrepreneur support organisations - 2015 India in focus

Contents:

  • Bosch, IBM, and Infosys are providing funding and mentorship opportunities
  • What does an accelerator expect of a startup: a handy list of guidelines
  • Arjuman Amjad

    • Investment networks and entrepreneur support organisations are also co-creating events.

    Bosch, IBM, and Infosys are providing funding and mentorship opportunities

    Entrepreneurship is a risky path, and India has reported mixed success with startups. Or a bit too much? IEEE membership offers a wide range of benefits and opportunities for those who share a common interest in technology. You could put it down to classic FOMO or plain immaturity. Here are the key characteristics of the most successful programmes: Its founder Balaji mentioned "We have not found the clarity and direction that we needed to continue". ANSYS, a computer-aided engineering software developer, gives startups free access to its suite of simulation products to help the ventures develop their products without going through time-consuming, costly, and multiple physical prototypes.

    Tech star's initiative - Global Accelerator Network has already built a network of 50 accelerators to share resources and know-how to help each other succeed. There are co-working spaces, business contests and startup conferences which also support founders in their own ways and can collaborate as well.

    Read the full article now

    Venture building model is where the organisation will build companies using their own ideas and resources. New teams can be formed for validated business ideas internally or from corporates, governments and universities.

    To capture new markets, offer high touch programs and improve the quality of deal flow, accelerators will expand their reach into other regions and launch virtual programs to tap into this explosion of innovation. Toronto-based Ryerson Futures Inc.

    What does an accelerator expect of a startup: a handy list of guidelines

    There will be tremendous pressure for new and small accelerators to attract quality deal flow with increased competition as the market becomes saturated. Startups have many options to choose and under funded players will gradually die. Turner , a broadcast network shut down its media camp accelerator after working with 27 startups during its 3 years operation.

    Its founder Balaji mentioned "We have not found the clarity and direction that we needed to continue". Last year, two Bangalore based startups made news as they exited after being a part of an accelerator program. It will be interesting to see how accelerator models will evolve to improve the chances of success for their portfolio ventures. RFI is the technology accelerator and investment-arm of Ryerson University; the Digital Media Zone in Toronto is Ryerson's flagship startup incubator program- which has incubated over startups till date, and currently houses 78 startups.

    And the guidelines are from the point of view of Zone Startups.

    Inside Our Special Reports

    We focus on industry connect and customer acquisition. We have a contract sign-off that stipulates these guidelines, and startups sign-off on them, before being officially on-boarded. We are a non-equity program for the 4-months period, during which we offer physical space and several value added services to the startups, such as dedicated mentor-pool, business development support, industry connect program, investor access, technology support etc.

    An accelerator needs a startup as much as a startup needs an accelerator. We call it the multi-disciplinary approach; where, we purposely have a mixed-bag of startups, in terms of founders profile and business verticals.

    Arjuman Amjad

    An accelerator is like a community in itself, and there are several gains that can come through because of collaboration. Likewise, you could be someone's first customer or help create an awesome presentation, in return. We place a lot of emphasis on peer-to-peer learning.

    We have tried different versions of it but, sort of zeroed-in on having mixed groups. We have had several instances of startups testifying that they wouldn't have been able to achieve validation, growth hacking, customer connect etc. So, 1 on my list of what we want from startups is, collaboration.

    • The state of India startup ecosystem: here comes the growth (and 10,000 startups);
    • Frederick Douglass Republicans: The Movement to Re-Ignite Americas Passion for Liberty;
    • Embarrassing Problems Fix: Male Problems Volume 3: Embarrassing Health Problems (Alternative Medicine Treatment & Healing)!

    When I say external collaboration, I mean startups talking about the accelerator program that they are a part of, when they attend events or meet clients. This is one way an accelerator can raise its profile within the community, as well as enable the program to attract new talent and entrepreneurs. There is no one-size-fits-all model. Feedback always helps in improving the program and its output.