Startup Street: Accelerator Techstars Comes To India
Here’s all that happened on the Startup Street this week...
Global startup accelerator Techstars is making its way to India through a joint venture, founders of several startups made it to Fortune’s 40 under 40 list, and the latest blow to mayo-making venture Hampton Creek. Here’s what happened on the Startup Street this week.
Startup Accelerator Techstars To Ink Joint Venture In India
Global startup accelerator Techstars, which has incubated more than 1,000 companies, is expanding its network to India through a joint venture.
Techstars India will be set up in partnership with ANSR that provides in-house centres and corporate accelerator programmes in the country, according to a media statement by Techstars Chief Executive Officer David Brown. The joint venture will look at opportunities for mentor-driven accelerator programmes in India, particularly in the country’s Silicon Valley, Bengaluru.
The Bangalore region, where Techstars will be located, boasts a growing entrepreneurial culture, a wealth of Fortune 500 company sites, a supportive government, and increasing availability of financing – key ingredients to a successful and empowering startup network.David Brown, CEO, Techstars
While this is Techstars’ first Indian venture, it has had a presence in the country since 2010 through its personally curated newsletter Startup Digest. In 2011, it started the Techstars Startup Weekend, which is like a workshop where entrepreneurs network, choose projects and make their pitch to investors. It has conducted 133 such events across the country till date.
Startup Founders On Fortune’s 40 Under 40 List
Fortune released its annual achiever’s list of 40 under 40 and startup founders seemed to be a popular choice this year. Founders of unicorn Airbnb – Brian Chesky, Nathan Blecharczyk and Joe Gebbia – featured on the fourth spot, followed by John Zimmer and Logan Green of Lyft at the eighth spot.
The other startup founders on the list include Spotify’s Daniel Ek at the 13th spot, WeWork’s Adam Neumann at 12 and Dropbox’s Drew Houston at 19.
Hampton Creek Takes Another Blow
Target Corp. decided to keep all products of U.S.-based food startup Hampton Creek off their shelves due to health and safety concerns. The startup, already low on funding, has now lost its largest retail customer.
The retail giant received “specific and serious food safety allegations” against the startup's products which forced it to reconsider their relationship, according to a Bloomberg report. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, however, said that it will not conduct an investigation unless it receives reports of consumers falling sick. As of now, the regulator has approved all Hampton Creek products.
Target accounted for about a third of Hampton Creek’s total sales from stores. It has also been mired in controversies from buying back its own products, drawing scrutiny from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and loosing its entire board except Chief Executive Officer Joshua Tetrick.