TS plans to support private incubators

KTR says Telangana has raised the bar in startup space by setting up T-Hub

Hyderabad: In a move that could take Telangana closer to realise its ambition of becoming a startup hub, the TS government is gearing up to facilitate and support private incubators in a big way. This initiative is in addition to its ongoing efforts aimed at having the country’s largest incubator in T-Hub.

“The startup and innovation policy we are going to announce soon will allow and support anybody who wants to set up incubator in private space as we need more incubators to tap entrepreneur talent available here,” IT Minister K T Rama Rao said after presenting certificates to winners of the TiE International Startup Competition here on Tuesday.

Underlining the need for government and private collaboration in startup space, the Minister said that Government can’t do everything on its own expect acting as catalyst. “It’s entrepreneurs who will have to take the initiatives forward,” he stated.

He further said that the TS government had raised the bar in the startup space by setting up T-Hub incubation centre. “The response is so overwhelming that we have been flooded with over 1,000 proposals. But we could accept only few hundreds of them because of space constraints,” the Minister maintained.

Encouraged by the huge response, the Telangana has now drawn up plans to establish sector-specific incubators, like the one it has opened for animation and gaming industry recently. “Since we are out of space at the T-Hub and it will take a couple of years to build another one which is five times bigger, we have now decided to get more space for the startups by establishing sector-wise incubators,” Rao explained.

He added that with the success of T-Hub, several venture capitalists and top-notch industrialists had been coming forward to invest here. According to him, Telangana will support entrepreneurship in research, innovation and also establishment of an industry. “There is so much talent and entrepreneurial spirit here, but it has remained untapped. What we are trying to do is that bring focus on the untapped talent,” he said.

Meanwhile, Feel Good Innovation, a Hyderabad-based startup which developed an innovative cover to motorcycle seat that prevents back pain and other ailments associated with two-wheeler riding has emerged as winner of the competition in the investor track. RightBiotic which developed medical device for determining antibiotic sensitivity is the winner of student track part of the competition. The winners will now compete in the regional level competition in New Delhi later. Global finals of the competition are scheduled to be held in the US next year.

“We have received over 100 entries for this year’s competition. The standard of the startups and their products continues to impress our judges. Our goal is to be the catalyst for best-in-class startup growth in the region,” said Safir Adeni, President, TiE Hyderabad, the organiser of the competition.