Hyderabad: For international start-ups to set shop in the country, T-Hub has launched an initiative — India Market Access Program (IMAP). Five start-ups from the US, Canada, Austria, South Korea and the Netherlands are currently housed in T-Hub, Hyderabad. They are doing market research and meeting potential clients. Through this programme, an international start-up can test the waters and strike deals with clients and see if their business model works in India.
Mr Chirstoph Trost, managing director of the Austrian start-up Unispotter, noted that there was a difference in the way students and colleges operate in India. “It is very unique to the country that there is training and placement cell and universities tie up with agencies to support their students. In other markets, it is difficult for us to get into universities.”While Mr Trost said that their product would have a smooth sailing in the country. Other start-ups, are gearing up for manufacturing their products in India.
Hugues Marceau, chief executive officer of a Canadian start-up Autonom’s, has met several Internet service providers and is optimistic about his product which is an uninterruptible power supply solution to Internet service providers. “We will be manufacturing here by sourcing vendors and assembling the product. T-Hub is helping me connect with people.”
Foreign start-ups have been holding discussions with local players. Lymousine, a US-based start-up, is jumpstarting a pilot programme with e-commerce player. “We are studying the Indian market which is different from the US market. We are doing market research and are fluid about the solution that we want to bring into the Indian market,” said Ms Yina Qiao, chief commercial officer of Lymousine.
Mr Michael Treasure, founder of Lymousine, added, “We will compete with last mile logistic companies which provide last mile delivery. This is our first point of entry outside Atlanta.” A path-breaking wearable technology, Carin, by the Netherlands company Lifesense, will be breaking the taboo of incontinence among pregnant women in menopause. Ms Megha Niluvas Srinivasamurthy of Lifesense group said, “Carin empowers women to take control of their body and health and we are here to test the assumptions.”
The international start-ups are also interacting with local start-ups. Mr Jay Krishnan, T-Hub CEO, said, “Changing market perception about India and promoting Hyderabad are our aims. Market access is one such programme for local and internationals start-ups under which IMAP is one subset. Moving forward, we will run this programme twice a year and we may run the US market access. These programmes will make it amenable for start-ups to be discovered by the world.”
