IT firm Tech Mahindra has announced its plans to take on as partners, startups in the technology space and explore ways of passing on the new and disruptive technologies being developed by these startups to service their own clients’ needs. According to a report in Economic Times, the company has set up a special purpose vehicle Tech M Next towards this end.
It is not that Tech Mahindra is doing it only now. They already have 30 startups within its fold and the current move is aimed at scaling this up and adding more such ventures every year. These startups will be typically chosen from identified geographies, like India, the Silicon Valley in the US, the UK and Israel.
The startups have to be in the networking, communication technology and virtual reality spaces. Tech Mahindra sees these fields offering disruptive technologies which could be useful to many of their clients and this is where the partnerships will the convergence.
To help these startups with their much-needed fund-raising activities by involving venture capitalists in the process of strengthening their partnership with these companies. Tech M Next also ensures the startups have done something worthwhile to be considered.
Those at the incubation level don’t interest them. If the startup has managed to acquires a few clients and have gathered some mass will only be included for the selection as partners. To a certain extent, Tech Mahindra’s existing clients’ specific requirements for their projects may also dictate the choice of startups. For the record, manufacturing, financial services and healthcare, are the sectors their clients are mostly engaged in.
“The world is about being relevant to the market, and disruptive solutions in the way to remain relevant. Our customers are big companies who are constantly getting disrupted. So, we help them by bringing them solutions that they are able to leverage and compete in the marketplace and business,” Economic Times quotes Jagdish Mitra, chief marketing officer, Tech Mahindra.
Tech Mahindra would shortlist around 400 startups first, before putting them through a rigorous elimination process, before they zero in on the 30 they feel will fit the bill.