How Indiarath is encouraging Tier 2, Tier 3 startups to grow
The Covid-19 disruption has brought new opportunities for startups to flourish with their innovations, and incubation has gained increased prominence across India. Speaking to Express Computer, founders of one such startup incubators Indiarath, Yatin Thakur and Upasna Dash provide details of their value proposition
How is the incubator built ground up during the pandemic and brought together a diverse range of partners with a common vision to elevate the next set of Indian startups?
Yatin: These are quite interesting times that we are in; while there certainly are new challenges, the pandemic has also brought a shift in how things are done and have presented an opportunity to rewrite things and create a new ecosystem that we all can benefit from.
We felt the biggest need of the hour for Indian entrepreneurs is the support, mentorship to build the right business models, products and access to real customers. We designed a programme keeping all of the above in mind. We wanted to create a platform that was sector agnostic, geography agnostic and a platform with no barriers of access between talented founders and experts. We saw there is an existing challenge in our ecosystem where most of these platforms were restricted to startups in urban areas or Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities and realised that most of the opportunities are restricted to startups depending on their geographies. We validated the idea and discussed it with some of the potential mentors, and in just two months we signed up over 80 mentors and built a neutral platform consisting of some coaches and mentors from some of the world’s leading corporations.
How Indiarath will help entrepreneurs to sustain their startups and scale beyond India borders?
Upasna: Indiarath is a 24 weeks incubation programme divided into three broader categories:
- Upskilling entrepreneurs to handle real challenges through fundamentals, business remodelling, product designing, branding strategy, etc provided by some of the best experts from the industry in the form of masterclasses
- One-on-one mentorship by industry veterans to help entrepreneurs achieve tangible goals over the course of six months
- Global Connects in order to build stronger market reach and build products and services keeping in mind the global markets/economies.
What makes Indiarath unique from other incubators?
Yatin: Every incubator has a different approach to support entrepreneurs. Some emerge from within large investment funds, while some are a part of larger corporations and others have specific sectors of interest. What we bring to the table is a truly unique and diverse group of skills and mentors. We are not confined to any particular sector or challenge, which we think makes us the most diverse programme out there. While traditional accelerators focus on providing a crash course to raise subsequent investment rounds, Indiarath aims to complement all other incubators, accelerators and investment funds, who would get access to deal flow using its online platform which provides in-depth information about each startup along with its progression which would also help investors with their due diligence process.
What is the future of tech startups in India like?
Upasna: The Indian start-up ecosystem is at an extremely exciting stage. While the pandemic created a lot of challenges it also gave way for new business models to rise. India has a couple of unique factors at play, apart from being a highly dynamic market it also has an incredible talent pool. From our experience, we see that startups that are able to adapt and leverage new technology and the agility to cater to changing landscape will see massive opportunities arise. However, it’s equally important for them to be consumer-focused and learn from existing models.
How to have more entrepreneurs join the bandwagon?
Yatin: We have had an overwhelming response since our launch and are extremely excited by the innovation and talent in our country. Our goal was to create India’s largest virtual incubator which happens to be borderless. Our goal was to encourage entrepreneurs from across India. especially Tier 2, Tier 3 and beyond , and we’ve already seen amazing founders apply. Our application process is purely based on merit, all they have to do is apply via our website after filling a detailed application. Once done, they are vetted and chosen after an interview process. If you are an entrepreneur trying to rework on your business or are facing challenges to sustain your venture or build access to new markets, this might be your opportunity.
