T-Hub Hosts Successful Scale-Up Summit, Announces Cohort 10 of Lab32 Program

Summit brings together founders, investors, and ecosystem enablers to share insights and opportunities, while the Lab32 program supports startups in refining their business models and accessing markets and mentors.

T-Hub and Redberri to Jointly Establish an Innovation Centre as T-Hub's Global Outpost in North America

T-Hub, India's leading innovation ecosystem today hosted a successful Scale-Up Summit on 10th March, bringing together startup founders, investors, corporates, government and ecosystem enablers for a day of insightful discussions and networking opportunities. The event featured a keynote address by T-Hub's leadership, highlighting the innovation ecosystem in the state and the country and the support provided by T-Hub to startups in their early growth stages.

T-Hub also announced the launch of Cohort 10 of its Lab32 program, which has already witnessed the successful acceleration of 249 startups, raising USD 403 million funding, and engaging 58 mentors. This cohort, which received over 800 applications from startups, will have 20 startups selected based on founder attributes, D2C/B2C business model, and market validation through initial traction.

The summit was attended by eminent dignitaries, including Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary of I&C and IT, Telangana government, Taran Chhabra and Amar Preet Singh, Founders of Neeman’s, Chaitanya Chitta, founder of Slay Coffee and CEO of T-Hub, among others. Two prominent unicorn representatives, Kavikrut, Chief Growth Officer of OYO, and Rohit Chennamaneni, Founder of Darwin Box, shared their success stories and insights into scaling up businesses. Attendees had the opportunity to participate in networking, workshops and masterclasses on fundraising, scaling, and marketing.

Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary of I&C and IT, Government of Telangana, "The Telangana government is committed to nurturing and supporting the startup ecosystem in the state, and T-Hub has been a crucial partner in achieving this goal. The Scale-Up Summit was an excellent platform for startups to connect with investors and other ecosystem enablers, and we are delighted with the success of the event. We are excited about the future of the startup ecosystem in Telangana, and we will continue to work closely with all stakeholders to build an ecosystem that enables startups to thrive."

Mahankali Srinivas Rao (MSR), CEO of T-Hub, said, "We are thrilled with the success of the Scale-Up Summit, which brought together some of the brightest minds in the startup ecosystem. This event was an excellent opportunity for entrepreneurs, investors, and ecosystem enablers to network and share insights on how to scale up businesses successfully. We are also excited to launch the tenth cohort of Lab32, which has been instrumental in supporting startups in refining their business models and achieving market readiness. We look forward to supporting more startups in their growth journey and contributing to the vibrant startup ecosystem in India."

The Lab32 program provides startups with customized business support, failure rate reduction, and access to T-Hub's vast network of mentors, corporates and investors. The program also includes masterclasses from successful D2C unicorn founders during a 100-day market readiness program focused on GTM strategy development. The top 20 percent of startups from the cohort will receive exclusive access to markets, mentors, media, methodologies, and possible entry into T-Hub's angel investment program upon graduation.

In addition to the successful Scale-Up Summit and the launch of Cohort 10 of Lab32, T-Hub and Redberri have come together to establish an innovation center, which will serve as T-Hub's global outpost in North America. This partnership will provide Indian startups with a significant advantage in the US market and enable them to connect with larger international players to augment their growth journey. Furthermore, these startups will have access to strategic workshops and interventions to gain entry into both markets and explore new business opportunities. The partnership will also facilitate cross-border innovation and technology transfer, accelerate the development of the ecosystem, and promote investments in academic institutions through strategic collaborations. Additionally, during the summit, T-Hub and Redberri unveiled their joint website.

T-Hub's strong ecosystem of partners has successfully impacted over 1800 startups through various programs and initiatives, connecting them with over 600 global and national corporate partners and providing 2000 mentor connects to help them scale.

T-Hub (Technology Hub) is an innovation hub and ecosystem enabler. Based out of Hyderabad, India, T-Hub leads India’s pioneering innovation ecosystem and is the world’s largest innovation campus. Over the six years, T-Hub has pivoted around the 6Ms (Mentorship, Money, Market Access, Motivation, Mindset, Manpower) and 2Ps (Partnerships & Policy advisory) framework with a mission of driving results and collaboration for entrepreneurs’ success. It has delivered 100+ innovation programs so far, creating an impact for startups, corporations, and other innovation ecosystem stakeholders. Since inception, it has provided over 2000 national and international startups with access to better technology, talent, mentors, customers, corporates, investors, and government agencies.

T-Hub Launches the 9th Cohort of its Flagship Program, Lab32 with a Founder-First Approach

The cohort will focus on startups working on cutting-edge solutions for industries such as Deep Tech - AI/ML, AR/VR, Blockchain, Metaverse, Web 3.0, FinTech, AgriTech and HealthTech.

The three-month program will prepare startups from across India for rapid growth and enable them to be market ready.

T-Hub, which leads India’s innovation ecosystem, today launched the ninth cohort of Lab32, one of India's longest runn5ing seed accelerator programs. The program has evolved its curriculum under the new leadership to make it more outcome-oriented and focused on a founders-first approach. The new cohort will build on the success of the previous cohorts which has facilitated 240 startups from across the country and raised USD 18 million in funding in the last year.

The ninth cohort of Lab32 will focus on startups working on cutting-edge solutions for industries, like Deep Tech, Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning, Augmented Reality(AR)/Virtual Reality(VR), Blockchain, Metaverse, Web 3.0, FinTech, AgriTech and HealthTech. The new curriculum will be based on objective-oriented guidance led by consultants, mentors, and seasoned entrepreneurs to promote collaboration and peer-to-peer engagement within startups. This cohort includes customized workshops, mentorship, peer review, product evaluations and other essential interventions. The program uses an advanced algorithm-based metric tracking mechanism and gamification techniques to promote participation from the startups.

MSR, CEO, T-Hub, said, “T-Hub’s flagship seed accelerator program, Lab32 has been focused on supporting technology entrepreneurs and innovators for more than five years. Our program is equipped with invaluable resources, mentors and tools that emphasise on developing founders into leaders who can rapidly execute plans and navigate obstacles that derail the venture’s growth. The program’s new cohort will be focused on providing mentorship across components like growth, product, fundraising, design, talent, market-fit, PR and more. By giving the founders access to the knowledge and networking opportunities we can help accelerate their growth to move their venture to the next level.”

The seed accelerator program will commence on 6th September 2022 in a hybrid modality and will offer participating startups constant support for three months. It will enable more entrepreneurs across India to participate in the program without the need for a physical presence in Hyderabad. Lab32’s modules will help the startups build better versions of products, discover and tap into market opportunities. Each module will have one theoretical session by an academic trainer, one best practice sharing session by a unicorn or soonicorn founder and one practical workshop by the T-Hub internal team, along with a deliverable. The top 20 per cent of the performing startups will receive exclusive access to Markets, Mentors, Media, Methodologies and entry into T-Hub’s Angel investment program on graduation day.

Startups will also gain access to knowledge resource partners, such as Google, Hubspot, Unicorn Founders and outreach partners such as NASSCOM, CIE, ISB and IIIT Hyderabad, to create a high business impact and drive an innovation culture. Twenty-five startups will be shortlisted after a focused and extensive screening process. Interested startups can apply on this link or email lab32@t-hub.co. Applications close on 1 September 2022.

Startups will be selected based on the following criteria:

• Startups from DeepTech, FinTech, AgriTech and HealthTech.
• The startup has a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) or market-ready stage.
• The startup must be from the Indian sub-continent.
• The startup should have had some initial traction in terms of pilots/users/paying customers.
• The startup should have a working product and a clear product roadmap.
• Startups should have a team of two full-time founders with complementary skill sets, a clear vision of their business and knowledge of the sector.

Lab32 has hosted eight cohorts since its launch in 2018 and helped 240 startups to scale their businesses quickly and strategically. It has emerged as one of the premier startup programs for rapid growth. The startups from the previous cohorts have witnessed a 402 per cent overall revenue growth rate and created more than 135 percent employment generation in four months. The program made over USD 2,70,000 credits available from partners, including AWS, Google, Azure, Github, Hubspot, Freshworks, Zoho and Notion and up to 40 per cent discount from other partners for the startups. In total, Lab32 startups have raised USD 280 million in funding since 201.

Mansoor Ahmed, Founder, RozgarKart said, “T-Hub was an invaluable support system as it provided us with access to the right talents, mentors, customers, corporates, investors, and government agencies. It hand-held us through each stage of the go-to-market strategy and helped us connect with overseas players. Moreover, the program gave us an opportunity to showcase our startup’s capabilities and gave us deep insights into the startup ecosystem. It also enabled RozgarKart to refine its business model and gain insights through interactions with industry peers. Through T-Hub, we also got an opportunity to travel for the Tie Global Summit in Dubai. It gave our startup international exposure as we could network with a larger pool of investors and corporates.”

Krishna Sansank, Founder, Glorio Technologies said, “Lab32 proved to be a defining moment for his startup. T-Hub was instrumental in enhancing Glorio’s product features and making it user-friendly for customers. The consultant assigned to Glorio Technologies was knowledgeable about the industries we are targeting and was also a mentor to other startups that are building products for the Indian market. We have immensely benefited from his go-to-market strategy and from the mentoring received from other departments as well. Upon the completion of our product’s pilot phase, T-Hub has generously offered to connect Glorio with their big clients whom we may not have been able to reach such an early stage of our journey. This support will definitely strengthen our brand image.”

T-hub's Lab32 Cohort Startup Cocoworks Raises an Undisclosed Amount From Kanthi Dutt

CocoWorks, a brand of Roligt Foods and a clean label sustainable nutrition brand has raised an undisclosed amount from Kanthi Dutt. Kanthi Dutt is a 21 years old India's youngest entrepreneur, sustainable living advocate, founder of SustainKart and a serial entrepreneur. In addition to that, he also successfully runs a media management firm Spartans Media.

CocoWorks plans to allocate the funds to expand their Omni-channel presence; support the ecosystem with its state-of-the-art, sustainable offerings; streamline logistical structure and acquire talent for its industrial growth.

Kanthi Dutt and Dr. Narasimha Reddy (L-R)

 CocoWork was launched in 2019 with the aim to provide a healthy and sustainable option to the society. The vision of the company is to be the GO-TO brand for all things coconut and to be reckoned as the brand for sustainable nutrition which is reflected by their approach of 'Primum non nocere' meaning 'first do no harm’ in providing nutrition.

Speaking on the investment Kanthi Dutt said “Being an active advocate for a sustainable living I understand the importance of sustainability and highly promote sustainable food options and hence I invested in Cocoworks. I believe that CocoWorks is providing sustainable nutrition the way nature intended to. With my investment, I’m backing this amazing team led by a visionary pediatrician turned entrepreneur & his strong-willed ethos.”

CocoWorks has been recognized as one of the top 10 food processing startups of 2021 by Outlook Magazine and is an award-winning startup. CocoWorks is a clean label sustainable nutrition brand from all things coconut with a core focus on delivering nutrient-rich products to consumers by creating nutritional awareness, promotion of clean and honest manufacturing and creation of a circular economy in the process. The products CocoWorks offers contain no preservatives, are of the best quality and are prepared in a hygienic surrounding.

“I’m elated with the kind of responses we are receiving from the consumers and investors and how people are funding our cause to promote sustainability. Within a short period, we have come so far and have made a presence in the market. The love that we are receiving, we would like to share with others by helping the farmers, promoting talent acquisition, and by expanding the logistics. “ said Dr. Reddy, Founder, CocoWorks.

CocoWorks’ mission is to provide healthy food to every person and to infuse health with taste ethically and that’s their motto – so the consumers make a healthy choice, and still satisfy their palates. Their aim is for every individual to have easy access to healthier alternatives and options, so making a better choice becomes easy without any hindrance.

T-Hub Onboards 23 Startups For its Seventh Cohort of Lab32

The cohort brings in promising innovative technologies for sectors such Sustainability, Edtech, Direct to Consumer, Media, FinTech, AgriTech, Supply Chain, Blockchain, Big Data, Cyber Security and Collaboration Tech

The three-month program will prepare startups from across India for rapid growth and enable them to be market ready

T-Hub, which leads India’s pioneering technology innovation ecosystem, today announced the launch of the seventh edition of its seed accelerator program, Lab32, with the onboarding of 23 startups. The program guides entrepreneurs to refine their products for market fitness and create maximum economic and social impact in India and the world.

The seed accelerator hybrid program will commence on December 7th for three months, will end in March 2022. It comprises demand-driven startups that will solve challenges from emerging sectors such as Sustainability, Edtech, Direct to Consumer, Media, FinTech, AgriTech, Supply Chain, Blockchain, Big Data, Cyber Security and Collaboration Tech.

MSR, CEO, T-Hub, said, “The Lab32 accelerator program reflects our commitment to support the next generation of entrepreneurs and community leaders. This program is an important step in deepening our relationship with the startup ecosystem within the country. We are excited to bring together founders, investors, and the communities we serve to help accelerate startups at the forefront of innovation. We are hopeful that the program will prepare startups for rapid growth, making them investment-ready.”

More than 175+ startups from across the country applied for this batch and were evaluated by the startup innovation team of T-Hub. They were selected based on criteria such as – founder’s mindset, product readiness, business scalability and innovative solutions. The three-month-long sector-agnostic seed accelerator program will encompass customised workshops, mentorship, office hours, expert guidance, peer review, product evaluations and other essential interventions. Startups will work on business goals in an intensive setting.

So far, Lab32 has hosted six cohorts since its launch in 2018 and helped 225 startups to scale their businesses quickly and strategically. It has emerged as the country’s premier program that aims at preparing startups for rapid growth making them market ready. The program has achieved various milestones in terms of employment created and revenues generated. They have also been awarded INR 7+ crore worth benefits.

T-Hub’s sixth cohort witnessed a total increase in revenue of the graduated startups by 607 per cent with startups increasing their revenues from 25 lacs up to 1.78 crores INR. T-Hub also observed, startups’ overall increased their talent pool by 308 per cent from April to November basis the cohort.

Additionally, Lab32 will be offering the startups various opportunities for collaboration and relationship building with relevant alumni startups, EIR (Entrepreneur in Residence) and startups that are a part of T-Hub’s Community. The startups will continue to receive support even after the program ends and get access to events, deals, advisory and tailored introductions. The shortlisted startups are Skillarthi, SmartchargeEV, Zerotouch, BeaversIn Technology, Rozgarkart, Pompah, Parking Mantra, Clicinsight, Patasala, Arrive, Affluence, happy healthy life private limited, Grecollate Technologies, Aspecto Technologies, Aarxz, Lurnweb, AUGR SHOP, Ira EdTech, Alfabets Learning, Orangeshark, Nexteen, Digital Trace and Squadl.

About T-Hub:

T-Hub (Technology Hub) is an innovation hub and ecosystem enabler. Based out of Hyderabad, India, T-Hub leads India’s pioneering innovation ecosystem. With a mission of enabling and empowering an ecosystem hungry for innovation, T-Hub is creating impact for startups, corporations and other innovation ecosystem stakeholders. Incorporated in 2015, it has provided over 1800+ national and international startups with access to better technology, talent, mentors, customers, corporates, investors, and government agencies. It has elevated innovation for leading national and global corporations, transforming their business models for better. Working in collaboration with innovation partners and enablers in Telangana, India, and world, T-Hub is building a future-ready innovation ecosystem.