State: Telangana
Language: Telugu, English, Hindi, Urdu
Population: 68,10,000 (2011)
Weather: Dry and Warm
Food: Biryani, Mutton
Places to Visit: Golconda fort, Charminar, Hussain Sagar, Birla Mandir, Salar Jung Museum
Industry Specialization: Health Tech, Pharmaceuticals, Tailoring, Poultry
Hyderabad’s Own: CRIOT™

 

Hyderabad, also known as the “City of Pearls” is famous for its exotic jewellery and the exquisite monuments all around the city. Once a fairly silent spectator, it is now one of the country’s leading startup hubs- with some saying that it might be the next startup capital of the country, replacing Bangalore. Apart from being the largest city of the South Indian state of Telangana, it is also one of the largest existing IT hubs.

Hyderabad, The Ecosystem

The city is now home to 4000+ startups- including Nukkad Shops, Darwin Box, Jay Robotix, TruePush, and SkinKraft. The presence of the Big 5 in tech as well as Fortune 500 companies has increased the value of its startup ecosystem drastically.

Read more about the various startups in Hyderabad –
https://www.startpblink.com/blog/hyderabad-startup-ecosystem/

Funding

From 2015 to 2018, Hyderabad has seen impressive growth in terms of funding. In 2018, Indian startups raised USD $11.23 Bn of which Hyderabad accounted for USD $400.95 Mn- 3.5% of the total amount.

As the number of startups has grown, so has the funding in the city. Cases in point, AdOnMo (INR 21.4 Cr), Innovaptive (USD $16.3 Mn), ConvoSight (USD $4 Mn), DoctorC (USD $2.5 Cr), Laalsa (USD $1 Mn).

The emerging capital receives funding from not only out-of-state/city investors and firms but also some in-house HNIs! Hyderabad has their own Hyderabad Angels, a network of angel investors that provide startups with not just funds but also mentorship and handhold their startups through their journey.

Incubators, Accelerators, and Stakeholders

The city also sees VC firms like Endiya Partners, Anthill, Ventureast, Caspian Impact Investment Adviser, Biz Innings, and SRI Capital. Blume Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Helion Venture Partners, Accel Partners and other bigshots all have been funding Hyderabad-based startups in recent years.

Read more about the funding scenario of the Hyderabad Ecosystem –
https://startupbyte.com/articles/hyderabad-startup-ecosystem-overview/e9de716d-cf21-4806-9d42-7a26688d6e46

Hyderabad’s progress has rested atop the shoulders of all the stakeholders in the ecosystem. Headstart Hyderabad is one such stakeholder- they have impacted over 750 entrepreneurs through initiatives like Kickstart, HS Mentor, and Startup Saturday in a little under 2 years. Holding over 15 events, and in 2020 have organised some absolutely stellar Startup Saturdays. If you’d like to reach out to our team in Hyderabad, email us at hyderabad@headstart.in

The city has no dearth of incubators and accelerators. CTBI- BITS Pilani, CIE-IIIT Hyderabad, NASSCOM 10K Warehouse Telangana, TBI UoH, ALEAP- India, Atal Incubation Centre, so on and so forth. The T-Hub has been one of the most sought-after incubators by startups for their exceptional facilities made available for their incubatees.

Government

The Telangana government has been nothing but supportive of the startups in the state. For Hyderabad to be one of the torch-bearers of the startup revolution in the country, could not have been possible without the assistance of the state government.

Read more about the future plans of the Hyderabad ecosystem –
https://www.yesbank.in/pdf/special_feature_hyderabad.pdf

Conclusion

Over the years, The Hyderabad ecosystem has come to be known for the presence of large corporates. Moreover, the large number of academic and research incubators are a massive boost as compared to any other city ecosystem.

From standalone tech startups to academic and research incubators supporting them, Hyderabad has made a lot of progress. Its ecosystem has finally reached a stage where the players can call themselves Startup Ecosystem enablers, a title they are proud of!

Meet Exprs, a startup that embodies the vibrancy of the Hyderabad ecosystem here!

Contributed by:

Anoushka Chopra & Sanskriti Bhatnagar
Headstart Network Foundation