In a shift in strategy, industry body Nasscom wants to focus more on handholding start-ups than on policy advocacy.
Addressing newspersons in Bangalore, R. Chandrashekhar, the new Nasscom head, said the need of the hour is to go to the next stage, which would involve initiatives to connect Indian start-ups with the Silicon Valley ecosystem.
“The last two years have seen an upsurge in the start-up ecosystem and this potential needs to be translated into growth,” added Chandrashekhar, a former Telecom Secretary.
The new approach has to do partly with the growing disillusionment among software product companies, which have been unhappy about the industry body catering more to the needs of big software exporters and not adequately supporting smaller companies. This resulted in the formation of think-tanks such as iSpirt.
News of this renewed focus cheered start-ups, but they continue to be cautious.
“If Nasscom is able to achieve what it claims, it would be a boon as more visibility in the Valley helps in tie-ups and acquisitions,” said Varoon Rajani, founder of BlazeClan, a Bangalore-based start-up.
Welcoming the Nasscom move, Vivek Jain, founder of StrApp, said the Silicon Valley ecosystem gives access to not just funds, but also domain knowledge, markets, manpower, venture capitalists and a larger user base .