Raipur’s Startup Ecosystem — Rendezvous with Illusion
No one was really ever bothered about Raipur apart from being capital of Chhattisgarh since the year 2000. But in recent years, its status is changing. Having a history of bootstrappers in different sectors, this tier 2 city always had a business in its soil. The new generations of business class are now moving away from their family businesses in order to start something new of their own. Raipur is now emerging as a start-up hub which will soon match the level of Metropolitan cities such as Bangalore, Mumbai, and Delhi.
Competitive advantages Raipur has to offer is one of the major factors that make it a desirable location to set up a start-up. In cities like Bangalore, you will always find someone doing the same thing as you. Whereas Raipur has a lot of untapped opportunities wherein you can break into. You can easily be the only one in your sector. The competition level is low in Raipur which lets you avoid the struggles when compared to the big cities. Starting up in an ecosystem that is in its nascent form gives you a huge market opportunity. More and more customers are willing to try the unique products that only you can offer. Here, teams can focus on core product development than worrying about the competition.
Another unavoidable reason is cost-effectiveness of Tier 2 cities. The Prices for renting an office in metros are skyrocketing. The resources to benefit your start-up with seem very far in these Tier ones. But here in Raipur, the cost-effectiveness is attracting young minds to get along the start-up culture in a more affordable environment when compared to other locations.
With the national level launch of Startups India, many states have started their own startup initiatives as well. Rajasthan, Goa, Karnataka, and Telangana are names of few. Chhattisgarh is not lagging far behind. The Raipur’s start-up ecosystem has seen significant growth and the government is upright support. The Government of Chhattisgarh launched the “StartUP Grand Challenge” and incubated startups from the state under its incubator called 36inc. 36inc was formed as a platform for startups to get access to the connections to the resources which a Tier 2 city such as Raipur lacs in. Providing a lean structure to startups was the goal and media tend to show significant results as well.
Mr Priyanjit Ghosh — Founder of NearFit (incubated at 36inc) — told us about his journey as an entrepreneur. Studying Management at IIM Raipur, he always had this urge towards startups, unlike his colleagues. IIMs have a very high fees structure and the education loan enables many students to be there. The primary target is now to repay the loan and thinking about risking by going to start a venture is a stupidity for the mass. However, Mr Priyanjit had a clear vision and a pre-dreamt goal. But Raipur failed to provide an environment for him to begin. Chhattisgarh government’s initiative was the great white hope for him. 36inc provided him with the platform to begin and he started off and doing very well now. He greatly praised the team, headed by Dr Rajeev Roy, behind 36inc for their constant support to him and the other incubated startups as well. He also showed his gratefulness towards the previous government for providing a gateway for young minds of Chhattisgarh to be a part of the entrepreneurial world.
The thing that made us worried was that we never heard about any promising startup from Raipur. It seemed like Raipur’s start-up ecosystem is flourishing only on a handful of media websites. We at ECHO realized the need to dig deep inside and bring out the other side of the story as well.
Mr Utkarsh Garg — founder of Alphapreneur — aims in bringing out the entrepreneurs and leaders to enrich growth. Instead of teaching the fundamentals of Startups, they believe in helping startups to innovate and impact. Based in Raipur, he understands the deep insights and knows about the ground reality of Chhattisgarh.
He was disagreeable to the fact that government’s startup initiatives brought a wave of entrepreneurship in Raipur. State Government’s initiative to start a drive and launch an incubator was just a way to support the central government’s Startup India initiative. According to him, the real mentorship, acceleration, and incubation aren’t being provided to the startups.
Being a mere co-working space, 36inc incubates about 51+ startups with a future — not so clear. Incubators don’t just incubate startups, they incubate ideas, vision, and future entrepreneurs as well. Incubatees are often young students who opt to start their own venture instead of working for a regular paycheck. And as mentioned by Priyanjit, Paychecks in Raipur with IIM and NIT is something which is hard to say no to. India being a country of youth, the constant hard work by entrepreneurs at 36inc may not lead them to a place they deserve and dreamt of.
Mr Divya Pritwani — City Lead(Raipur), Headstart — also confirms the take of both the governments on startups of Raipur. Giving a big name to startups to attach to and unable to attract the interest of the industry from Tier 1 cities is equivalent to doing nothing. Announcing schemes at a grand level which cannot deliver at the ground level is like having many sweet shop owners who tempt people for short term enthusiasm than having a dentist who would really bring out some positive change.
For a while, we can consider that the government needed time. They might not have been able to deliver what they promised too quickly. Another problem that currently arose in the city is the change in government. The new government with an inclination towards leftism focuses on addressing the basic needs of people. The people themselves elected them after fifteen years with no mention of entrepreneurship development in their manifesto. New policies and new budget look promising for the welfare of state but it fails to accommodate startups.
Mr Priyanjit Ghosh was also worried about this change in government as the roadmap planned by the previous one is not valid now. He also reports the obstruction in issuing of funds for the Incubator.
‘The new government is straightforward with their take on startups. They will be working for the businesses but not startups which is better than giving hopes and delivering nothing ‘- as told by Mr Utkarsh Garg.
On observing Raipur closely, we found how facts were carefully fabricated and presented. There is no doubt that Raipur has the potential entrepreneurs and the market condition is favourable for everyone. What Raipur actually requires is the attention of Industry Experts to mentor young minds and provide them with the resources they deserve like any other Delhite and Mumbaikar.
Mr Divya Pritwani emphasizes on the fact that it is the entrepreneurs who should work on innovative ideas which will automatically pull the attention required. Instead of looking for government and institutions for help, they should make their business model self-sustainable and start going into bootstrapping. He is correct at his part as well. It should be the idea and the team that will create the difference and fills in the gap of resources that Raipur is having.
