T-Hub 2.0 turns one: How KTR’s brainchild is transforming Hyderabad into the next silicon valley of India

HYDERABAD: Once a vision of Telangana’s IT Minister KTR, now a campus of over five lakh sq ft nurturing entrepreneurs and ideas, at the heart of modern Hyderabad, T-Hub 2.0, the world’s largest startup incubator, is transforming the startup ecosystem not just in India, but across the globe.

On June 28, 2022, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao unveiled this wonder, after which, Hyderabad is not far behind in becoming the silicon valley of India.

Telangana, which recently completed 9 years of Statehood, has been at the forefront of many sectors is also thriving well in promoting and facilitating startup ecosystem.

T-Hub, a brainchild of the IT Minister, has been reframing the IT sector and innovation in the State. Not just incubating startups, it also acts as the bridge between the stakeholders, investors, entrepreneurs and the State government. The facility, since its inception, has been providing a world-class workspace, peer connections, knowledge exchange, mentorship, funding support as well as access to the global market.

T-Hub was given the Best Incubator Award in India on National Startup Day 2022, the reason being its portfolio - Over 2,000 startups incubated by more than 200 mentors through various incubation programs. More than Rs 1,860 crores was raised by the startups and built 400-plus global connections.

What makes T-Hub the one-stop destination for entrepreneurs?

Startup scaling programmes

Lab32, one of its unique programmes, is focused on helping seed-accelerator stage startups achieve self-sustainability and rapid growth.

BigLeap provides an opportunity for Indian entrepreneurs to connect with some of the most talented innovators from across the globe.

Rubrix enabled rapid product development with reduced costs by imparting necessary training, mentorship, tools and resources to the startups which gives them their Minimum Viable Product (MVP) ready to market. These unique programmes have been helping startups to turn their ideas into marketable products and also teach entrepreneurs the art of marketing.

Offering corporate engagements

T-Hub evolved from prototyping programs to crafting institutionalised programs to support the innovation journey of over 600 corporates like Uber, HCL, Boeing, Microsoft, and Qualcomm with more than 40 corporate innovation programs. It demonstrated a strong commitment to fostering its engagement with the investor ecosystem, resulting in several fruitful collaborations with corporates.

Accelerator programmes

T-Angel, a 90-day accelerator program, enabled startups to get investment-ready through engaged mentoring, while enabling High Networth Individuals (HNIs) and startup enthusiasts to explore angel investment. Through this program, MVP-ready startups in any technology and industry got mentorship, investor connections and learning.

Apart from these, T-Hub collaborated and hosted multiple events to provide capacity building, exposure and international connect to startups.

Over the past year, T-Hub achieved remarkable success. T-Hub conducted regular information awareness sessions connecting startups, enabled corporate connections for 39 startups and supported over 100 startups in connecting with industry bodies, government entities, and private players.

Moreover, T-Hub has been instrumental in empowering 21 startups with invaluable international and national market access, while witnessing an overwhelming response with over 1,000 founders and market leaders eagerly joining its dynamic and vibrant ecosystem. T-Hub’s community events impacted more than 150 startups, while their Idea Open House validated the ideas of 200 founders. Through their accelerator programs, T-Hub supported 72 startups, leveraging the expertise of 112 mentors, including 13 super mentors.