NASSCOM, Govt of Karnataka launches its first co-working space for start-ups

As part of the 10,000 Start-ups initiative to scale up the start-up ecosystem in India, the National Association of Software & Services (NASSCOM) today inaugurated its first Start-up Warehouse in Bangalore's Diamond District.

While talking about the facility, I.S.N. Prasad, Principal Secretary to Government, Department of Information Technology, Biotechnology and Science & Technology, Government of Karnataka, said, “Karnataka is the country’s leading hub of technology innovation and it is imperative to continue steering its growth and foster entrepreneurial culture in the state by various policy initiatives. This collaboration with NASSCOM to provide world class infrastructure to start-ups will phenomenally spur the growth of the technology start-up companies operating in the region.”

The Start-up Warehouse has been introduced to create a micro-ecosystem where early stage start-up founders can work together, share their learnings and best practices with each other. NASSCOM has already received about 2,000 Expression of Interests for the warehouse as it was part of the 10,000 Start-ups application process. Further, the selection would be finalized by a selection committee comprising of stakeholders from the government as well as the industry.

Highlighting the facets of the 10,000 Start-ups program and the warehouse, KK Natarajan , Chairman, NASSCOM said, “Within the first 150 days of its inception, the 10,000 Startup programme has received an overwhelming response and achieved numerous milestones in this short journey. The launch of the warehouse facility for start-up companies in Karnataka is yet another milestone to create, sustain and boost the entrepreneurship culture within the state. We congratulate Govt of Karnataka for their proactive support to the cause of building a robust start-up ecosystem in the state and stimulate the technology innovation rate in Karnataka.”

NASSCOM also plans other such facilities across key cities in the country, to provide world class infrastructure to tech start-ups at a highly affordable cost. The model for a start-ups warehouse is to identify a central, well connected, plug-and-play working space and offer it to Start-ups for the first 6 months of their operations. The start-up warehouse would also be visited frequently 10,000 Start-ups mentor and investor network that would provide one-on-one mentorship to the start-ups based at the warehouse.