Is Vizag a good place to start your entrepreneurial journey?

Visakhapatnam is a brewing storm of opportunity. Its nickname, “the city of destiny,” itself signals a grand future. However, if you are an aspiring entrepreneur here, then you would have some questions about whether you should start your company in this city or move elsewhere. Through this article, we attempt to provide you with some clarity about Vizag’s start-up ecosystem to help you make your decision. 

What Does Vizag Have to Become the Next Start-up Hub?

Vizag has done all the basic groundwork to raise a solid economy for start-ups. The city boasts excellent connectivity in terms of roads and rails. With the upcoming Bhogapuram International Airport, aerial access to major cities and countries will be easily covered. The city also has a major port connecting to East Asian countries. 

Now, coming to the startup ecosystem, the city has a share of 27% in Andhra Pradesh’s registered start-ups, establishing itself as a start-up hub of the state, and now it is eyeing to position itself on the national scale.

Good Educated Population:

As per the 2011 census, the city has a literacy rate of 82%, which is better than the national average but slightly less when compared to other Indian metropolitan cities like Bengaluru (~88%), Pune (~87%), Chennai (~90%) and Delhi (~88%).

Government Initiative:

Adding to Vizag’s untapped entrepreneurial talent, the Government of Andhra Pradesh is constantly pushing developments which have the potential to change the landscape of this city, projects such as:

Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone (AMTZ) – 270+ medical device companies in one campus

FinTech Valley Vizag – 35+ MoUs signed with global firms

Incubation centres:

One of the crucial parts of any start-up is the foundation, and Incubation centres do exactly that by providing funding, industry experts to provide guidance and many other resources to ease the initial grind of entrepreneurship.

A few notable incubation centres in Vizag include IIMV FEILDS, Andhra University incubation centre, APIS (Andhra Pradesh Innovation Society), GITAM GCIED and many more.

What does the city need to foster a better environment for start-ups?

While Vizag start-ups are building some momentum, they must scale higher to compete with India’s and the world’s top innovation ecosystems. A few of the current needs include:

World-Class Research Ecosystems:

Cities like Bengaluru have institutions like IISc (India’s top-ranked college), which fuel deep-tech research. Vizag has a few good institutes like IIM-V and Andhra University, but overall, the city lacks a nationally recognised university which attracts world-class talent and fosters cutting-edge research.

Investors:

Funding is the pillar of any start-up. Take examples of Bengaluru and Gurgaon. Both have become a VC (Venture Capital) playground, with investors scouting ideas even before they’re polished. Whether they are solo investors or VCs, we need more of them. Vizag has many high net-worth individuals who could be game changers for this start-up boom in Vizag. For more info on Vizag Investors, you can check this research by Suyog Darde (IIM Vizag alumnus)

Corporate-Start-up Synergy:

Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, and many more tier 1 cities are benefiting from having Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and more on the ground. These tech giants actively mentor, fund, and even acquire local start-ups. Vizag must create corporate corridors and zones where large enterprises work shoulder-to-shoulder with founders.

With companies like TCS and Google showing interest in setting up offices in Vizag, the synergy is getting started. 

Vizag startups, which have a solid infrastructure, strategic location, and government push, are laying the foundation for a powerful entrepreneurial ecosystem. But to be honest, we are nowhere close to Bengaluru or Hyderabad yet. The city still needs deeper capital pools and stronger research backbones, and the work in those areas is currently in progress.

Also read: Vizag vs Hyderabad: Which City Would Serve You Better?

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