New startups in Chennai

Radhika P Nair & Vidhya Sivaramakrishnan, ET Bureau

(Chennai may have been late…)

BANGALORE | CHENNAI: "Naan late'aa vandalum, latestaa varuven (Even if I come late, I come with the latest)" goes the Rajinikant punch dialogue from the Tamil movie Baba. What's true for the superstar is also true for the startup culture in Chennai, his hometown.

The city may have been late to the startup party, but it is catching up in style. In the last two years, several startups have sprung up in the coastal city boosting its reputation as an eclectic hotbed for technology products, medical devices and social media solutions. The new entrants — both young and experienced — are following the lead set by online portal Bharat Matrimony and enterprise software-maker Zoho Corp in creating a new image for Chennai long viewed as an old-economy hub specialising in manufacturing.

The distinct change in the air is drawing a new breed of entrepreneurs who are using technology to build consumer products and services. "I moved my company from Bangalore to Chennai, " said Arunprasad Durairaj, cofounder of year-old startup Flintobox, who was drawn by the strong local network in the city that supports young entrepreneurs.

"Senior entrepreneurs are willing to provide guidance, " said Durairaj, 32 whose startup was based out of Bharat Matrimony's office for three months. Flintobox which provides activity boxes for toddlers that parents can subscribe to on a monthly basis expects to launch services in Singapore next month and earn monthly revenue of Rs 45 lakh next fiscal.

Durairaj, who was previously part of Samsung's mergers and acquisitions team in South Korea, believes a local network is crucial in the early days of starting up. In Chennai, Murugavel Janakiraman of Bharat Matrimony, Sridhar Vembu of Zoho and Girish Mathrubootham of Freshdesk are among those who are helping others get a leg-up. While networking forums like the Chennai outpost of Open Coffee Club, Chennai Geeks and Filter Coffee, are helping startup founders meet and exchange ideas.