The Hubballi India Startup, spread over 82,000 square feet is predicted to train and generate livelihood opportunities for 5,000 people in future…
India needs big startups to boost its domestic growth and economic stature globally. At a time when PM’s ‘Digital India’ and ‘Make in India’ are the buzzwords, the bureaucrats and the government are mainly focused on tier-1 cities. Amidst this rat race, only a few people in the country actually focus on the grassroots in the hopes of development. Gururaj Deshpande, an Indian-American entrepreneur, venture capitalist and philanthropist is one such person. Deshpande is determined to establish India’s biggest startup in Hubballi, a tier-2 city situated approximately 400 kilometres away from Bangalore (north Karnataka).
A brainchild of Deshpande Foundations, the Hubballi startup will be India’s biggest skill development centre in future. The parent startup incubation centre ‘Sandbox Startups’ was introduced in 2008 to train 2,000 professionals under skill training programme. The centre has conducted successful operations in last eight years, aiming to empower the youth population with adequate employment opportunities.
This Friday, Deshpande, who’s a native of Hubballi himself, announced the upcoming launch of India’s biggest training centre in April. Being one of the patrons of best startups in India, the centre at Hubballi will impart skill training to 5,000 people. Hubballi startup training centre will run 5-month residential training programmes under 11 courses, covering major topics like social entrepreneurship, mid-layer manager training, teacher training etc.
Once completed, the centre will support incubation facility for over 100 startups and accommodate over 1,000 people. This venture is a big deal in itself that ropes in innovative and advanced solutions, software-enabled machines to automate government procedures. They’ll have a special maker’s lab dedicated manufacturing, 3D printing, agricultural processing and Internet-of-Things, as reported by Naveen Jha, CEO of Deshpande foundation.
As per founders, the facility will be open for general public, irrespective of age, gender or creed. The foundation is planning to launch a second incubation centre called ‘T-Rural Hub’ in Nizamabad, Telangana that will reinforce the startups of Medak, Karimnagar and Nizamabad etc.
The benefit? Since its inception in 2008, Sandbox has been providing incubation support for aspiring entrepreneurs and fresher to test and implement their business ideas on ground. They’ve helped the first-time industrialists to get in touch with mentors, government agencies, big investment firms and corporate houses, by providing them with a global platform. This will hopefully help generate sustainable sources of income for youth in the coming years.