Startup Street: Wipro, Tata Motors Looking To Rope In Startups With Innovative Edge
Here’s what went on this week on Startup Street...
This week on Startup Street, Wipro Ltd.’s consumer care arm and Tata Motors Ltd. have launched venture capital funds for startups to find innovative solutions for customers. The Indian Army is organising a startup workshop in Jammu and Kashmir to boost business. The government has proposed to reduce fees for intellectual property rights for startups and MSMEs; and there’s another fund in town with $305 million.
Here’s what went on...
Wipro Consumer, Tata Motors Launch Startup Funds
Are startups the way for established companies to keep in touch with newer technology? India Inc. seems to think so.
Software services provider Wipro Ltd.’s consumer care arm has set up a venture capital fund for consumer startups in India and Southeast Asia with new technology and ideas. Tata Motors Ltd., too, said its new startup fund — Tata Motors Automobility Collaboration Network 2.0 — would tap startups with new solutions in the automobile space.
TACNet 1.0—a collaboration platform by Tata Motors—had earlier invested in startups such as CariQ, VesatoGo, igrenEnergi and IntelliPredikt Technologies. It’s looking for directly applicable solutions for blockchain in automotive, parking marketplace, natural language processing native chatbot, demand prediction algorithm, real-time monitoring of fuel quality (BS-VI) and authenticating genuine spare parts, it said in a statement.
On the other hand, Wipro Consumer Care, operating mostly in the personal care, skin care and home care categories, plans to invest in startups in the digital and e-commerce space. One of its first startup investments was in “Happily Unmarried”, a men’s and women’s grooming products startup.
The companies, however, didn’t disclose the size of the venture capital funds.
Not The First Time
A few other top Indian companies, too, have launched venture capital funds.
While consumer goods makers Unilever has a venture capital and private equity arm Unilever Ventures, Marico Ltd. has an innovation focused platform Marico Innovation Foundation. In February, Britannia Industries Ltd.’s Managing Director Varun Berry announced the company’s plans to set up a separate entity to invest in startups over the next six moths.
Within the IT sector, Tata Consultation Services Ltd. was the first to launch an innovation hub called Co-Innovation Network or COIN, in 2006 to identify startups with newer technologies and companies that can solve specific consumer problems. Infosys launched its Innovation Fund in 2015, and has since invested in startups like Waterline Data, Trifacta, Speck, ideaForge, Whoop, TidalScale, to name a few.
The Mahindra Group, which houses companies such as Tech Mahindra Ltd. and Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., also has a $1-billion private equity and venture capital arm. India’s largest automaker Maruti Suzuki Ltd., too, has a “Mobility & Automobile Innovation Lab”, funded by Indo-Japanese seed fund GHV Accelerator, to find solutions in the automobile space.
Cipla Ltd. was the first Indian drugmaker to set up an incubation fund in 2013. The innovatia fund held its last round in 2018. Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd. also announced its new venture group in 2015.
Indian Army Launches Startup Workshop In J&K
At a time the newly formed union territory struggles to attain normalcy, the Indian Army launched a startup workshop in the valley to foster the spirit of entrepreneurship.
Army’s Counter Insurgency Force (Uniform) has started a three-day startup event at the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, PTI reported quoting Defence spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Abhinav Navneet. Being held in Jammu, today is the last day of the conference-cum workshop.
The first day witnessed a huge rush of students with fresh and innovative ideas getting registered for the event, the Lieutenant Colonel told PTI.
Students as well as working professionals of the region pitched more than 100 viable startup ideas, of which 12 top ideas were selected through mutual voting, and teams were formed around these ideas. These teams are being mentored over the weekend where they will be taught how to convert an idea into a business model.
(With inputs from PTI)
Government Plans To Reduce IPR Fees For MSMEs, Startups
The Indian government has proposed to reduce fees for intellectual property rights for micro, small and medium enterprises, including startups.
Here are the changes proposed by the Commerce and Industry Ministry:
- Fees for MSMEs and startups for filing of patent applications will be reduced to Rs 1,600 or Rs 1,750 from Rs 4,000 or Rs 4,400.
- For expedited examination, it will be reduced to Rs 8,000 from Rs 25,000. Similarly, for renewal of patents, the fees will be reduced.
- For design applications filing, fees for MSMEs and startups will be reduced to Rs 1,000 from Rs 2,000, the ministry said.
- Fees were proposed to cut to nil for filing of geographical indication application, issuance of certificate and renewal of GI from Rs 500, Rs 100 and Rs 1,000, respectively.
(With inputs from PTI)
Another Fund
Vertex Venture Holdings Ltd., a unit of Singapore’s Temasek Holdings, closed its fourth Southeast Asia and India fund this week at a record $305 million.
Meant for early-stage startups, the fund exceeded its original target of $230 million. The fund could’ve been even bigger, Bloomberg reported quoting the fund’s managing partner Chua Kee Lock. “...but we felt it was a sufficient size for an early-stage fund like us. At the end of the day, it’s about generating real cash returns to investors,” he said.
The first Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India fund had returned 19.1 percent as of March, the second fund returned 24.3 percent and the third 36.4 percent, the firm said. The fund is among the best performing venture capital firms in Southeast Asia.