Superbrands, the coveted multinational brand endorser, will be endorsing the most significant start-up brands in this country.

SuperStartUps, this project for new businesses in India, will also offer all the associated facilities like profilng of the firm in its annual book and to be able to use the ‘Superbrand’ status for a year in all its communications.

According to a report from Nasscom, apex association of the software sector, the year 2015 saw the number of start-ups in India grow 40 per cent over a year before, to 4,200. The number is projected to cross 11,500 by 2020.

“India is fast rising as the start-up destination in the world. With the burgeoning of more than 700 brands each year, it has become extremely important to differentiate, with credibility, and understand from users themselves,” said Anmol Dar, Chairman, Superbrands India.

At present, hardly any project recognises and rates Indian start-ups. In most cases, their position in the market is determined by their valuation. Which is based on the funding they have from various investors, from time to time. Another measure of the size of such entities is on the basis of their sales, in terms of gross merchandise value.

SuperStartUps, an initiative by ad guru Shivjeet Kullar, in association with Superbrands India, aims to fill this gap. “Although start-ups are the talk of town, we realised there is a need for recognition. Apart from validating the power of their brands, the firms can use these ratings to secure funding as well,” Khullar said.

According to him, results of the first edition, for year 2016, will come up by early 2017. The process involves four stages – registration, screening, test and confirmation.

“We have chosen to partner with Shivjeet in this eco-system as he not only understands brands and their architecture but is also an entrepreneur in the start-up world himself, keenly aware of the challenges and nuances of being in the eco-system”, Dar said.

Dar and adman Prahlad Kakkar, Valerie Pinto, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Weber Shandwick; Sanjeev Bikhchandani, Founder of Info Edge, and Deep Kalra, Founder and CEO of Makemytrip are in charge of the monitoring council of the project.

Superbrands publishes its ratings for 90 countries and has offices in 55 nations. It was founded by Advertising Executive Marcel Knobil in London in 1994. The first edition of their booklet was published a year later, after it started its journey as a radio show in BBC Radio. Apart from the Superbrands rating, it also comes up with CoolBrands, Sport BrandLeaders, and eSuperbrands in several countries.

Source: Business Standard