Hyderabad has all the right ingredients to create an AI based startup ecosystem.
What is there:
- Education institutions: IIIT, IIT, BITS, HCU and more than 100 engineering colleges churning out tech talent every year. This will make sure that the top of the funnel is always full.
- Organizations with data: DRDO, IICT, CCMB, NIFT, NIN, ISI, ASI. AI needs data. Lots of if. And Hyderabad is home to lots of research organizations(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Research_institutes_in_Hyderabad,_India). And they are all very approachable. Lots of startups can be built on top of this data.
- Buyers: Every startup ecosystem needs someone to buy the stuff you build. Hyderabad is home to a lot of successful businesses who are looking to up their game with AI. Lots of hospitals(Apollo,Yashoda, Care etc), Dr. Reddys, lots of real estate companies, IT services companies, Metro and SaaS startups. Everyone is looking for AI related products. Even the Telangana govt is very proactive and looking for AI startups.
- Startups: A good ecosystem should already have a good set of startups. And Hyderabad is home to many such. So the peer group is taken care of.
- Enablers: T-Hub and IIIT are playing the role of enablers pretty well. You want to connect with anyone and you have a right use case, the enablers will make sure you are able to connect.
Ok, that’s the good news. But,
What does the ecosystem still need?
- Funding scene: Though Hyderabad is home to good angel investors, most of the reputed VCs don’t have their office in Hyderabad. They make the trip from Bangalore when needed.
- Success stories: For any ecosystem, for it to go to the next level, we need success stories. And though lots of young startups are there in Hyderabad in the AI space, a solid success story is missing.
Personally, I feel that startups in Hyderabad will be better off in trying to attack the core AI problems instead of building copy cat startups. They have access to some of the best research institutes, access to the best AI talent and access to industries with the right data. I am just waiting for the AI startup explosion to happen :)
What are your thoughts? You think the Hyderabad ecosystem is missing something? Please do leave a comment.
