NASSCOM STARTUP WAREHOUSE IN BANGALORE

A start-up warehouse was launched in Bangalore today, as part of Nasscom's '10K initiative' aimed at strengthening the eco-system for starting technology companies. A joint initiative launched by Nasscom in April 2013 with partners like Google, Microsoft and Verisign, the '10K initiative' is aimed at nurturing 10,000 start-ups in the next few years, the Nasscom official said today. "Aimed at strengthening the start-up eco-system in India, a start-up warehouse has been launched today in Bangalore. It is a place where 80 work stations have been set up. Start-ups funded by angel investors can begin working there and shall be mentored," Nasscom Vice President Rajiv Vaishnav said. The Nasscom official was here to announce the hosting of the Dewang Mehta IT Awards tomorrow, which is being jointly organised by the Dewang Mehta Foundation Trust (DMTF) and the Gujarat Technological University (GTU). The trust, promoting tech entrepreneurship among Gujarat colleges and raising infotech start-ups from the state, has a corpus of Rs 8 crore. "We expect start-ups to grow and be standalone entities within a year of incubation at the Bangalore warehouse, and then move out, paving the way for others to join," Vaishnav said. The initiative has received around 4,332 applications from serious start-ups, after nominations were invited. Out of these applications, 3,332 have been screened for the next round of advancement, he said, adding that the Dewang Mehta IT Awards would be presented to the top three teams or individuals tomorrow.