A beta tech city but one that is home to many global centres for technology, Bangalore is one to watch, writes Helen Roxburgh.
Strong local language skills, high quality of labour, IP security and continued governmental support will sustain India’s strong positioning as an attractive country for global TMT companies looking to strengthen their cost-competitiveness.
Although it has attracted less VC investment into tech start-ups than rival China, the country is second in Asia in terms of unicorns, or start-ups that reach more than $1bn.
Beyond outsourcing, Bangalore is a thriving start-up incubator in its own right. More than 35% of all the IT companies currently based in India are located there.
THE OCCUPIERS
One of the largest occupiers is Melbourne-based ANZ Group, which employs more than 7,000 people in its 390,000 sq ft Bangalore centre.
In a list of global start-ups by valuation compiled by CB Insights, Indian e-commerce start-up Flipkart ranked 12th with a valuation of $10bn, while fellow online retailer Snapdeal, valued at $7bn, came in at 19th.
Of the top 35 companies on the list, 10 were from China and three from India.
ONE TO WATCH
Vedantu, a platform for online and live one-on-one tutoring, secured $5m from Accel Partners and Tiger Global Management.
WHO TO KNOW
Juggy Marwaha
JLL’s former managing director for south India now leads the WeWork India team
Sharad Sharma
Former head of Yahoo R&D in India, now a tech start-up mentor and co-founder of non-profit think tank iSPIRT
Sanjay Raj
Director of Bangalore-based Golden Gate Properties
Mike Holland
Chief executive of Embassy Office Parks
Rajan Anandan
Google’s vice president for south-east Asia, and angel investor
