Tata Comm to explore start-up support prog in other institutes

Having announced its association with the iAccelerator programme of the Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A), Tata Communications said it is willing to explore such similar programs at other educational institutes.

"We have learnt a lot through the start-ups that participated in the iAccelerator programme last year at CIIE. We have hence been evangelating about similar programs across the country and abroad. We have been doing one-off projects in the US and Singapore to tap their research capabilities," said Srinivasa Addepalli, Chief Strategy Officer, Tata Communications.

As the flagship programme of CIIE, iAccelerator is a three-month residential program for around eight start-ups in the Internet and mobile space. While the program is conducted by CIIE, Tata Communications supports to the programme by providing funding, mentorship and infrastructure.

 

"Our role is to provide support in whatever way we can. We provide infrastructure from telecom perspective for the participating start-ups while our management team also engages with them to share the business side experience," Addepalli added.

The start-ups have been provided with work spaces, IT infrastructure, seed capital and mentorship from a team of industry experts. The iAccelerator programme has five angel investment partners including the CIIE. The start-ups are expected to showcase their final prototype / product to the angel investors on Demo Day. They can expect an investment of up to Rs 10 lakhs for their project. Last year, they were given the chance to showcase their products to 36 investors.

"Supporting our finalists with the best infrastructure and expertise is imperative for the programme. This is the second year that Tata Communications has supported the iAccelerator programme and as one of the world’s leading providers of enterprise managed services, we are confident that our finalists will have access to world class connectivity, technology and invaluable mentorship to strengthen their projects," Pranay Gupta, Joint CEO at CIIE.

Since its inception in 2009, the programme has supported 27 successful start-ups in the Internet and mobile space.