Accelerators arriving in India on Bus Train & A Ship !

Accelerators arriving in India on Bus Train & A Ship !

– HJ
On a Bus, Plane, Ship, Bicycle or on foot – hundreds of global entreprenurs and investors will arrive in India’s major cities through all these means of transport in the next four weeks to scout for hot start-ups, smart geeks, business models and take a dip in the Indian jugaad ecosystem.

The arrival of global startup accelerators and investors to India, early this year, signifies its arrival on the global startup scene, both in terms of talent and as a market.

Geeks On a Plane, a tour organised by 500 Startups, a global accelerator program is landing in India’s silicon capital to scout for startups in a whirlwind 54 hour weekend meetup. “India is a developing ecosystem, but it has moved very fast in last 3-4 years. There is large smartohone penetration and a rising middle class in India. Online paymentis still nascent. But we see a lot of potential here, so we have decided to jump in,”  says Dave McClure founding partner of 500Startups.

McClure is in the process of creating an India specific fund. 500Startups has already invested last year in about 6 different startups, which were part of its global accelerator program. “We travel by planes, trains, and automobiles to the most exciting international startup scenes. Our sole mission is to unite geeks and explore cross-border opportunities,” says McClure, who has a large portfolio of about 250 startups, with amounts ranging from $50,000 to $250,000 invested in each.

500Startups is not the only one. Come March 6, and a 560 foot ship (double the size of Qutub Minar) will dock at the Cochin Harbour Terminal. The ship crew consists of about 600 college students, 11 startup companies, 20 mentors and investors, all part of an accelerator called – Unreasonable At Sea. The MV Explorer which departed from San Diego, is a travelling university with its own 9000 volume library, wireless internet, deck cafes for students, and a swimming pool.

Some in the accelerator business such as Vijay Anand of Startup Centre say that the local ones are better suited for Indian startups. “Indian start-ups need a lot of handholding. Many young entrepreneurs even ask accelerators to get them customers, besides money and talent. Arrival of global accelerators can be seen more as a marketing of their own business to Indians which have produced many a succesful company back in the silicon valley.”

About 1100 companies applied to get on board the Unreasonable at Sea ship of which only 11 were selected. Unreasonable AT Sea’s objective – to help the 11 entrepreneurs get access and forge ties in global 14 regions such as China, India, Burma, Japan, Singapore and Europe.

Started in 2007 Unreasonable At Sea charges entrepreneurs either 6% equity in their venture or up to $100,000 in equity, or lesser of the two, in lieu of the 100 day voyage across start up ecosystems of 14 countries.

From March 7-10, about 1000 aspiring entreprenuers and students will march on foot from startup to startup in four areas of Bangalore – Indiranagar, Jayanagar, Koramangala and Palace Grounds. Backed by Nasscom, Government of Karntaka and Indian angel networks the mission of Startup Festival is to bring Bangalore’s position from to top 10 startup hubs in the world from rank 19th currently.

“Geeks on a Train” is another accelerator party which happens on trains running between Seattle, Portland and Vancouver, which has famous founders, investors, entrepreneurs, bloggers, developers and designers on board, besides free food and drinks. Though, India is yet to start up these innovative accelerator concepts, it is becoming hot ground attracting such parties to its soil.

ENDS