Visakhapatnam:
Even as Vizag is trying to attract multinational companies to invest in the city, many IT professionals working in metros such as Bengaluru or Hyderabad or Chennai are becoming part of startups in the port city. According to approximate estimates from startup sources, nearly 20 to 25% of startups have founders or co-founders based out of the three metros and having a stake in upcoming IT businesses in the port city.
While the ‘home-connection’ with Vizag is one of the major reasons, other factors such as cheaper manpower, lower costs in terms of running a business and improved internet connectivity are also ensuring that Vizagites staying elsewhere invest or become a part of startups in the city.
Speaking to TOI, Ravi Teja KonathalaCEO of Unihalt, a startup from Vizag, said, “The costs of setting up a startup in cities such as Bengaluru or Hyderabad are quite high as compared to a city like Vizag. If you take Bengaluru, then you will have to pay a minimum of Rs 1 lakh as deposit for a small room, whereas it works out quite cheaper here. Also, the probability of a startup with one of the co-founders working in a full-time job becoming successful is higher, because the co-founder can help pull the startup through tough times.”
At the same time, he said, “Hiring talent in metros can be quite a tough task as the salary requirement is quite high. But we can take people as interns here and train them by providing them travel and food allowances. This is win-win situation for both the startup and the interns.”
According to Raja Sekhar, COO of Eunoia Technologies, “Homeground advantage is one of the major factors besides the availability of facilities in the port city. Nowhere else do we have a complete incubation facility with infrastructure and devices given for free such as being done at the Sunrise Startups in Vizag.”
Another startup founder, who didn’t want to be named as he is working in Bengaluru for an MNC said, “Vizag is the perfect marketplace if you want to test if your idea can work. It has the cosmopolitan culture that makes it similar to either Bengaluru or Hyderabad and then you have a tech-savvy crowd too. So, if your product is related to technology, then you can iron out your glitches here and test different strategies at a lower cost as compared to other metros.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Visakhapatnam / by Manish, TNN / April 03rd, 2016