Nashik, an upcoming hub for tech startups?

Amid talks about about how Pune could possibly outpace Bengaluru as the next startup hub, there are whispers about Nashik’s potential of becoming the newest emerging startup hub. Then, what’s stopping it? Well, its funding! A report by The Economic Times points out that there a lot of innovative ideas have been coming out of the city. However, there is no funding available as seen in cities like Pune that is roughly 200 kms away. “AngelList, the international startups portal, lists more than 5,000 investors interested in Pune. Nashik’s score is just one. Equidistant from the financial capital of Mumbai (Nashik 160 km vs Pune 147 km), Nashik is an industrial and educational hub,” the report goes on to say. Nashik is known to churn out tens of thousands of engineers from its colleges every year, but one cannot easily find a funded tech startup there. The report also adds some examples of how Nashik-based companies are working on newer and deeper technologies, but have still failed to get funding. Nevertheless, the city is said to be quite promising. Last year, we saw MIT Media Labs along with TCS and other local organisations announce the Kumbhathon to find tech-based solutions. In fact, it was the entry of TCS that helped boost the city’s growth. The IT giant has setup is innovation centre in Nashik. On a broader scale, there is no denying that startups across the country have started feeling the pinch of the slowed down funding .