Bengaluru-based Startups Club Launches ‘SC Incubator' For Early-Stage Startups

Being a young business is hard. Surviving through the first three years is in fact the hardest. If you ever manage to pass the three years litmus test, that is when a business' real journey starts. In order to help early stage startups in their journey, Bengaluru-based Startups Club has decided to launch a special vehicle called SC Incubator (SCIN) that would be working towards incubating, investing and accelerating early-stage startups over a 12-month period, according to a report in Inc 42.

For the uninitiated, Startups Club is an Open Inclusive and Collaborative platform for startups from Napkin Stage to Growth Stage. Currently present across 20 cities, the platform has successfully conducted more than 500 events and mentoring sessions for startup entrepreneurs. The club claims that these sessions have helped some 100 odd Startup founders in their entrepreneurial journey.

According to Startups Club, their main aim behind setting up SCIN was to fill the currently present gaps in the mentoring programs in the startup ecosystem. In order to become a part of SCIN, a startup should not be older than five years and it must have a valuation of less than Rs 10 crore ($1.56m).

As per the initial plans, SCIN is planning on taking in 10 startups annual. It has plans to scale this figure subsequently. The vehicle will have a pan-India character and will cover as many industry segments as possible.

SCIN's concept has received a big thumbs up from the startup community as four startups have already signed up to go big with Startup Club's newest venture. The four signed up startups are: Vellore,TN-based hardware startup, Vicara; Bangalore-based intelligent technology solutions startup for the retail sector, Grabbngo; Vellore-based personal care products maker, Renaura, and Foxity, a tech startup developing solutions in the night-life entertainment space.

[Image: YourStory]

Meet The 4 Startups Selected For Newly Launch SC Incurator Of Startups Club

The community of early stage startup, Startups Club (SC) has launched SC Incurator (SCIN) which aims to incubate, invest in and accelerate early-stage companies.

Startups Club brings for the first time in India, a perfect mix of community and investment through our Incubation program, supporting 0 to 5-year-old startups and entrepreneurs from across Industries. According the website, this program is designed keeping in mind the various challenges our entrepreneurs face post funding.

India is not a consumerist market and therefore it is important to be a little patient to achieve growth. With this in mind, Startup Club has created a 12-month program, called ‘Startups Club's Incurator’. “We believe we can deliver the best of both worlds, which is to incubate and accelerate. This program is open only to our Members from across cities,” informed the website.

Planning To Apply For The Program? This Is What You Need To Have

First of all, you need to be an ‘early stage’ startup that is operating for less than five years, with a valuation below Rs.10 crores ($1-2 million). SCIN aims to ‘incurate’ an initial group of up-to 10 startups per year, across multiple industries in India and has plans of growing this number in the coming years. Secondly, you need to be a member of Startup Club.

The Incurator has already selected four startups for its 12-month program. Here is the brief about them.

Vicara: Startup is building human augmentation (including gesture recognition) technologies and solutions in order to make human interactions with computers more natural and efficient.

Renaura – Renaura Wellness was established in 2015 with an aim to develop solutions in the beauty, personal care, and wellness domains. Started with a vision to develop advanced products Renaura has been involved in active research and development of targeted products that solve specific problems for consumers in various parts of the world. In simple words, it researches and develops a revolutionary approach to personal care products that target India-specific challenges.

Grabbngo – Founded in June 2016, GrabbnGo enables drivethrus at restaurants without any infrastructure costs as users get their orders in their vehicles as they drive past. It has developed an intelligent technology platform that enables enhanced retail solutions and services to customers through the integration of seamless product pick-up and delivery services from retail outlets.

Foxity – It is a technology platform focused on enabling engagement between night-life entertainment venues and their customers through an enhanced experience for discerning users.