Student entrepreneurs to get a shot at ‘Start Tank’ incubation

CHENNAI: Looking to catch entrepreneurs young, PayPal has opened its Start Tank incubator challenge for students who aspire to start their business. For the first time since its inception in 2013, student entrepreneurs will now get an opportunity to compete with non-student entrepreneurs and get incubated at Start Tank by participating in the finals of Start Tank Incubation Challenge to be conducted later this year.
“Extending the Start Tank Incubation Challenge to student entrepreneurs comes with the commitment of supporting their innovative startup ideas and tech concepts. Through Start Tank, we aim to help them with the right kind of mentorship and guidance to enter the market right after graduation,” Anupam Pahuja, general manager, technology – Asia-Pacific at PayPal, said.
The first set of student-entrepreneurs who get a shot at incubation at Start Tank are the two student teams selected by PayPal in the Entrepreneurship Conclave and Startup Hive at IIT-Madras’ Shaastra tech fest. A team of M Tech students from IIT-M pitched the winning idea of ‘delivering logistics via drones’ and the runner-up concept relating to ‘pushing dynamic ads into mobile games in place of the obtrusive banner ads’ came from a team of dual degree students, also from IIT-M.
PayPal’s Start Tank provides an obligation-free environment for select tech startups in a facility of almost 11,000 square feet in Chennai. PayPal formally launched its Chennai incubator in association with TiE Chennai in November 2013 and besides Chennai, Start Tank is run in PayPal offices in Boston and London.
After IIT-Madras, PayPal will partner SASTRA University in Thanjavur to conduct the incubation challenge as part of their techno-management fest to be held in February 2015.