TechStars, a US based startup accelerator is set to make their India debut in Bengaluru this year. Minister of IT, BT and Tourism of Karnataka, Priyank Kharge welcomed the company saying the Karnataka government is focused on building a bolder and structured ecosystem and the collaboration with TechStars is exactly what the government required.
TechStars will forge a joint venture with Bengaluru based ANSR Consulting as a part of their India launch and will be hiring a country manager to lead the Indian operations. Through this joint venture, Terchstars plans to open their first center in Bengaluru next year and open centers across multiple locations in India in a few years. ANSR, backed by Accel Partners and Infosys, helps large Fortune 500 companies like Limited Brands and Target set up their technology centers in India.
TechStars, which was founded in 2006 by David Cohen and David Brown, operates in several cities globally including in New York City, London and Paris. The US based accelerator, which has accepted over 1,000 companies into its programs so far, has collectively raised over $ 3.8 billion with a market cap of over $ 9.9 billion. The company counts remote computing platform DigitalOcean and other startup successes among its graduates.
Cofounder David Brown said they have been watching India’s emergence as the third largest global startup ecosystem very closely. He also added the potential for growth in India is huge, as one of the fastest growing economies in the world.
Speaking about the type of programs they were likely to run in India, Brown added, “Globally, we have integrated startup programs, startup accelerators, along with investing, which is one part of our story— it’s likely that we’ll have similar types of programs here in India.”
The accelerator runs a three month program where they typically invest $ 120,000 along with a $100,000 convertible note upon acceptance for a 6% stock in the USA. They also operate platforms such as TechStars Startup Programs, TechStars Mentorship Driven Accelerator Program and TechStars Corporate Innovation Partnerships.
ANSR, which establishes, operates and optimizes global in house centers to provide solutions to enterprises, operates startup led innovation programs for its corporate partners, including Target, L-Brands, Lowes and Swiss Re. ANSR’s Kyron program and Microsoft’s India accelerator program are some of the other startup incubators working in India.
