National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) will be allotted space at Sunrise Startup Village at Rushikonda here to set up a startup warehouse as part of an agreement signed with the State government.
Nasscom will provide co-working space with comprehensive environment for incubation of startups with regular community events, mentorship, and venture capital funding.
“As per the arrangement, Nasscom will be provided 8,500 square ft. of area for incubating 50 startups a year (25 every six months),” CEO of Innovation Society (an autonomous society established by the Andhra Pradesh Government) Nikhil Agarwal told The Hindu on Saturday.
Nasscom has already started warehousing at several metropolis and Tier II cities like Kochi and Pune. It has drawn up an action plan to incubate 10,000 startups by 2023 to create a large pool of skilled talent. It is also known as 10K Project.“Visakhapatnam is all set to become a startup hub due to emphasis being laid to encourage innovative ideas among youngsters,” Agarwal said.
He said an innovation fund with an allocation of Rs.100 crore was being created as part of IT and Startup Policy to encourage innovation in various fields to create several young entrepreneurs and employment for many.
VUDA and Software Technology Parks of India have already signed a MoU to set up an innovation tower for startups and MSMEs in domain-specific energy, shipping and petroleum sector. Millennium Tower, with a built-up area of four acres, will be built as part of the second phase of the startup village in an area of four acres.
Though Signature Tower, comprising two buildings modelled on the lines of Cyber Towers of Hyderabad, and another IT tower at Visakhapatnam Special Economic Zone, Duvvada, have been sanctioned for the city, due to some reason or the other, the work is yet to start.
While the tower at Duvvada has hit a roadblock for want of release of funds by the Centre for more than a year, there has been no response from bidders for constructing the Signature Tower on PPP mode despite issuing advertisements for expression of interest twice.
Source: The Hindu
