Synopsis
The association TEAM, which has been registered as a not-for-profit entity, will hire professionals to work along with regulators, policymakers, and various government bodies.
Thirty-five founders of top startup unicorns and soonicorns have come together to set up a grouping to promote Mumbai, the financial capital, as a potential base for technology companies across sectors like fintech, media, gaming and others.
The grouping is likely to be named TEAM, or Tech Entrepreneurs Association of Mumbai.
The association, which has been registered as a not-for-profit entity, will hire professionals to work along with regulators, policymakers, and various government bodies on issues like affordable housing, tech talent, and amping up Mumbai’s ecosystem.
Leading the effort is Dream Sports founder Harsh Jain, and Haptik founder Aakrit Vaish, among others.
Top Mumbai-based startups like BookMyShow, Eruditus, Zepto, Clevertap, Games24X7, and Rebel Foods are among its initial members.
“Of the 35 members, around 20 are unicorns. So, Mumbai has all the big companies, and we need to do more now to solve some of the perception issues like unaffordable housing in the city,” one of the people involved in the process told ET. “With so much capital coming into the tech ecosystem, I don’t think it (housing) is that big a challenge. Global startup hubs like San Francisco, New York and Shanghai are expensive cities to live in but it’s also a branding issue.”
Unicorns are privately held companies with a valuation of $1 billion or more, while soonicorns refer to those startups that are on their way to becoming unicorns.
Bengaluru is largely famed for being the startup capital of the country, having been able to successfully attract top tech talent, with the Delhi-NCR region closing in on the second spot.
TEAM is aiming to push for government incentives and benefits to make affordable housing available for tech employees and create special economic zones (SEZs) in its effort to develop tech zones in Mumbai where cost of living is a big barrier for founders to start businesses.
The grouping will form a board once it is formally set up.
“Then there will likely be multiple executives running the day-to-day operations in line with the board’s plans,” another person aware of the discussions said.
Jain and Vaish were not available for comment.
Across the country, associations like TiE, Indiatech and others work closely with startups to consult with them, address ongoing issues, arrange events for knowledge sharing and so on.
“Government and policy will of course be a big theme the body will work on. There have already been conversations with the government before this was being set up as to how to promote Mumbai more as a startup destination,” one of the people mentioned earlier added.
Article Credits: The Economic Times