Indian Bank recently operationalised 10 startup cells across the country to meet ecosystem’s specialised requirements.
These cells have been established in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Coimbatore, Chennai, New Delhi, Gurgaon, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kanpur, and Mumbai, according to news agency PTI.
Shanti Lal Jain, Managing Director and CEO of Indian Bank, inaugurated the Chennai cell in person and the other nine units online.
“The launch of the startup cells is a major milestone in Indian Bank’s journey to support the growth of the startup ecosystem in India,” said Jain.
Indian Bank‘s startup cells will provide local startups with a portfolio of tailored banking goods and solutions. According to the research, these centres will provide a variety of services such as payment gateways, corporate credit cards, credit facilities, and current bank products tailored to the specialist banking needs of startups.
Furthermore, these cells will have specific relationship managers for startups in order to ‘create lifecycle engagement’ with local entrepreneurs. According to reports, the bank has also launched a bespoke lending package for startups.
With this announcement, Indian Bank joins a growing list of financial institutions that provide dedicated products for entrepreneurs. While the country’s largest bank, State Bank of India (SBI), already has a specialised startup office in Bengaluru, other institutions such as Bank of Baroda, IDFC First Bank, and RBL Bank also provide such specialty goods.
According to experts, such specialised sections are better able to investigate the technical risk of new-age startups and have superior resources to analyse an incoming business’s product-market fit. These facilities also allow companies to obtain formalised credit, which is often scarce due to banks’ aversion to untested company plans.
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With the advent of the Centre’s Credit Guarantee Scheme for entrepreneurs (CGSS), however, numerous institutions have stepped up to give loans to entrepreneurs. Meanwhile, specialist branches allow banks to tap into potential big ticket companies, which could subsequently bring in big business.
As the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem expands, banks look eager to capitalise on the growing space and add new revenue streams. Startups, on the other hand, gain access to customised solutions tailored exclusively to them.
