SR Group Launches Technology Business Incubator SRiX In Telangana

SR Group, in association with the Department of Science and Technology, has launched a technology and business incubator called SRiX in Warangal, Telangana.

SriX plans to nurture innovative startup ideas into successful companies and will focus on agriculture, clean tech, Internet of Things (IoT) hardware and related cutting-edge technologies.

The incubator comes with business-friendly workplaces, IoT workshop and prototyping facilities.

On the launch, KT Rama Rao, IT Minister of Government of Telangana said, “SRiX is the first Incubator centre that hosts a maker and prototype space. The government will extend all its support for the growth of startups by being the first customer.”

He also congratulated SRiX for winning the DST grant, amidst stiff competition from other institutions of Telangana. As per the official statement, the department will extend financial and networking support to SRiX.

Along with SRiX, the incubator has also signed cooperation agreements with the newly formed Warangal Chapter of The Indus Entrepreneur (TiE) and Kakatiya Angles.

Formed by a few HNIs from the region, Kakatiya Angels will support incubatees from SRiX as well as other promising startups in India by providing capital and mentoring.

The initiation of TiE Warangal, in association with TiE Hyderabad at the SRiX campus, aims to bring momentum for the strengthening of incubation, networking and mentorship activities essential to the growth of entrepreneurship in the region.

Commenting on the launch of SRiX, A Varada Reddy, Chairman of SR Group said, “The initial focus at SRiX will be in the field of agriculture, manufacturing and management of energy, water and waste, inclusive growth centered rural empowerment, education and IoT.”

In the first year, SriX aims to incubate 40 promising startups. So far, it has already announced the names of eight startups that it would be incubating.

Here’s a brief about the eight selected startups:

• Dinely: It is an artificial intelligence enabled dining recommendation application. Dinely helps customers choose a place to dine by leveraging users’ tastes, preferences and their social context.
• Stumagz: It is a digital campus ecosystem to effectively engage prospects, students, faculty, staff and alumni. With a diverse range of solutions, institutions can create a complete intranet experience for the campus community viz aid recruitment, improve retention, engage alumni, simplify faculty management, etc.
• Vyom IOT: The startup comprises a team of IoT enthusiasts with experience of one product in the market. The startup is now aiming to create an IoT-based technology to increase the accuracy of GPS tracking through the use of a unique algorithm.
• Robotries: The startup aims to work on detection of gestures, through deep learning techniques, to improve the virtue of life. It plans to integrate its ideas with future technologies like drones, virtual assistants and augmented reality headsets that can be controlled through gestures.
• GramThejus: This company creates technology products and solutions to empower villages outside smart cities. It works towards geo plotting of farm areas, crop monitoring and harvest planning using products which include geo-fencing, geo-tagging and IoT sensors-based irrigation and crop management.
• Orange Tree Technologies Pvt Ltd: It owns a portal, Mr.Milkman, which offers cloud-based Dairy SaaS and discovery services. The company’s solutions allow dairies to manage their entire businesses right from the farm to the end consumer.
• Sanshodhan: It is an e-waste exchange and a virtual e-waste aggregation platform to connect the last mile recycler and foster circular economy in the e-waste management sector.

SRiX Amongst Growing Startup Incubators

In the expanding startup ecosystem, other incubator programmes operating in the country include Amrita Technology Business Incubator, EduMentum, Build for India, etc.

Recently in February, Amrita Technology Business Incubator (TBI) announced that it will provide Seed investment of $200K to the three winning startups of PitchFest 2018.

Around the same time, Infosys co-founder SD Shibulal launched a startup incubator EduMentum. The incubator will work with early-stage startups in the offline education transformation space.

In December 2017, Paytm launched an incubator for startups under its Build for India initiative. Under this initiative, the digital wallet will assist developers in designing open source-based solutions and sharing these projects with the global tech community.

Telangana Working Towards Boosting Startups

Telangana has emerged as a leading state with respect to its robust startup ecosystem. In July 2017, Telangana Government announced its Innovation Policy to promote entrepreneurship in the state. As part of the innovation policy, Telangana will set up an early-stage investing vehicle T-Fund (Telangana Innovation Fund) in collaboration with T-Hub.

Over $310 Mn (INR 2,000 Cr) master fund was set up to invest in sector-specific startups, along with general venture capital funds.

In June 2017, Telangana government had announced the launch of a digital wallet called T-Wallet, in association with Bengaluru-based fintech startup Transaction Analysts.

Earlier in March 2016, Amazon India announced plans to infuse fresh investments in the state to launch its biggest campus in India and the largest campus outside the US.  Also, in January 2016, the NASSCOM 10,000 Startup Program, in collaboration with the Indian Government, inaugurated the T-Hub NASSCOM Startup Warehouse in Hyderabad.

Amid this, the launch of startup incubator SRiX in Telangana with the support of Department of Science and Technology is a step forward in the state’s mission to foster a strong startup culture.