Entrepreneurs getting younger now as students aim big in biz

Chennai: Chennai’s entrepreneurial scene is getting more younger by the day. With the economic recession affecting campus hiring, successful entrepreneurs are arising out of college graduates.

The number of incubators in colleges and universities has also incr­eased, with Tamil Nadu alone having over 23, about 10 of whom are present in university campuses.

“It is this access to information, knowledge and mentorship right at the formative stage that helps students to decide on their entrepreneurial journey,” said Subramanian Iyer of SmartKapital, a venture capitalist who played a key role in organising the Pit­chfest session at the recently concluded TiECon 2013 event.

“There is no glamour in big companies now. The role model of today’s generation is Mohit (Dubey) of Car­wale or Phanindra of Red­bus or even globally, Zuck­erberg. These are folks who have shown that you don’t have to get into TCS or Infosys to be successful,” said Mahesh Murthy of Seedfund.

Parental control and monitoring over their children are fast receding and there is no pressure on them to get into a job once out of college, he added.

Recession also seems to have played its role in inspiring students to be on their own. “Not many companies came to our campus last year,” said Vineet Nee­raj of Kobster.com.

“While I was fascinated by my college incubator centre, it was around the same time that TiE had come to our campus for a mentoring session,” said the SRM University student who has started an e-commerce venture for office supplies with his classmates.

“The capital expenditure for new-age start-ups has shrunk drastically in recent days, letting people plough in their personal savings,” pointed out Chandu Nair of Chennai Angels.

Meanwhile, the funding by venture capitalists in Chennai has trebled in the last seven years to $88.8 million in 2012, according to data from equity research firm Venture Intelligence.