According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, there were more than 400 million entrepreneurs in the world in 2012 and can reach 1 Billion by 2025. But the more entrepreneurs that appear, the more the level of competition for limited resources such as capital, access to networks of mentors, subject matter experts, investors, knowledge, qualified personnel and business supporting environments. While every entrepreneur believes themselves to be the next big thing, their potential is not fully tapped with issues such as financing, uncertainty with the direction the company needs to take, no known networks, contacts, sources, skilled labor and office space, arising on a regular basis.
Startup accelerators and incubators have become the ultimate way to nurture and develop startups in this internet economy. These are organizations that seek to help startups attain success and tend to focus on providing startups with mentorship, advice, and resources to help them succeed. Venture capital funds from abroad and angel investors are proving to be a big boon for Indian start-up story. Indian startups such as Flipkart, Olacabs, Snapdeal, Hike, Shopclues, Freecharge, InMobi etc., are great examples of startups making use of accelerators for mutual benefit. Designed to enhance the success and growth rates of new startups, accelerators and incubators provide startups with developmental work, networking, entrepreneurial synergy, flexible and affordable working space and shared office services, to name a few.
AirBnB, DropBox, and Reddit are success stories of profitable startup – accelerator relationships. YCombinator the accelerator for these startups, based in Silicon Valley has an application acceptance rate of 1% to 3%. 500StartUps, also based in Silicon Valley, is the accelerator behind the successful online platform and social media website, 9GaG.
Startup India is a much appreciated, much needed and an innovative initiative of the Government of India with 1621 active applicants and 592 recognized startups since its launch just a year ago.
Fin Robotics and SYM are startups funded by StartUp Village, a joint venture of the Government of India and Department of Science and Technology. StartUp Village offers long-term support from the initial stages till the startups get funded.
Multiple successful startups like Altizon, BabyChakra, DailyRounds, Healthify, Voonik and Zoom Car were funded by one of the first accelerators set up in Bangalore, called Microsoft Accelerator.
Some of the successful graduates of Venture Nursery are Oyo Rooms, Klip.in, Catapoolt and InvenZone. Backed by Angel Investors, Venture Nursery was established in March 2012 with the base of operations in Mumbai.
Accelerators, in general, have a positive impact on regional entrepreneurial ecosystems, particularly with regard to the financing environment. Metropolitan areas have more seed and early stage entrepreneurial financing activity when an accelerator is established. It takes more than an idea, but a true sense of entrepreneurship to start a business. An accelerator/incubator can help shape that idea into a plan that is viable and profitable.