HYDERABAD:The first building of T-Hub, a public-private partnership enterprise, to be inaugurated on Thursday, has been named ‘catalyst’ for a reason.
The futuristic building, curated in just about six months from a partial structure at the Indian Institute of Information Technology’s Hyderabad campus, aims to develop technology and a startup ecosystem seen nowhere else in the world. In less than three years, the State government hopes to build a bigger campus of three lakh sqft at Raidurgam and similarly, start T-Hub’s franchisees across the world including in Silicon Valley.
Governor ESL Narasimhan and industrialist Ratan Tata will launch the project at the IIIT campus. “This is the largest incubator in terms of design, functions etc and a first-of-its-kind not-for-profit initiative in a public-private partnership model,” IT Minister KT Rama Rao said, summing up the concept of T-Hub.
The idea is simple - walk in with an idea, walk out with a product. And, the building brings together everything that is required to facilitate the same. While experts from the Indian School of Business will provide business mentorship, technology experts from the Indian Institute of Technology-Hyderabad and the Indian Institute of Information Technology-Hyderabad will serve tech related needs of the startup firms. The Nalsar University of Law will provide support in terms of intellectual property, legal and patenting rights.
The State government’s IT secretary, who will be the only government official on the T-Hub board of directors comprising CEOs and academicians, will assess the potential of a concept through a stringent screening process and decide the quantum of financial assistance. The T-Hub incubation fund at present is Rs 10 crore which is sanctioned by the State government.
A target of Rs 100 crore is set for the incubation fund for the coming years. From over 800 applicants, as many as 150 start-ups have been screened and selected. Based on their needs, be it a fixed desk, a flexible desk or a cabin in the building, they will be paying a rent of Rs 6,000, Rs 4,500 and
Rs 50,000 respectively. Working round-the-clock, the building will seat as many 900 persons in over 70,000 sqft, ground plus five floors.
“Not a single piece apart from the chair was brought from the market. It was all designed by us keeping in mind the needs of the users. Even if one has to work 24 hours, he/she should not feel tired,” said Gokul Krishna of W-Design Pvt Ltd who has designed the space.