HUBBALLI: At a startup, a city-based doctor has created a portable hearing lab that could help residents of Tier-II cities and rural areas, where there are no testing centres nearby. Now the facility can go to their doorstep benefiting both doctor and patient.
Another doctor from Bengaluru, who has set up his startup here, has created a cost-effective incubator especially for babies born with jaundice. Currently, hospitals are dependent on equipment built by foreign companies. The Hubballi-based startup has got orders for 350 incubators even before the product is out in the market.
Startups are now opening their businesses in Hubballi challenging the stereotype that they are only meant for metros. In the last two years, 80 have made this city their home, doing business to the tune of several crores of rupees. Now,the state’s second-largest city will have the country’s largest incubation centre of 1 lakh square feet.
Companies that moved to Hubballi from Bengaluru are finding the new address more economical, giving more value for money. On Tuesday, 46 attached to Deshpande Foundation’s Sandbox Startups on Airport Road Hubballi will be inaugurated by Minister K J George.
‘Sandbox first of its kind outside major metros’
CEO of Sandbox Startups C M Patil said that companies starting out in Hubballi are being able to make a large impact in the market. “The facility (provided by the Sandbox) is the country’s largest and will provide access to an ESDM (Electronic System Design and Manufacturing) cluster. It is already
attracting startups from Bengaluru, Hyderabad and other metros. One from Bengaluru which had a three-member team now has over 30 employees,” he said.Gururaj Deshpande, founder of Deshpande Foundation, said that the Sandbox Startup Incubation Center is the first such centre outside of the
major metros.
What’s in Sandbox?
Some of the startups: NGX, LinkEZ, Shopgro, Lifetronics, Sensegiz, Freshboxx
Sandbox-ESDM cluster offers:
Testing and new product design support
Plant and machinery installed to enable designing, manufacturing, testing and calibration under one roof
Why Hubballi
Home to India’s largest incubation centre
Air connectivity to major metros
Lesser travel time and fewer traffic bottlenecks
Well connected to Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Pune