TheRodinhoods

Impact Hub – Incubator – Feedback please

Nikhil Kalanjee

Hi everyone, 

Quick introduction – I’m based in London and currently work in marketing for a tech company. One of the programmes that I run involves managing a content marketing programme – we look for interesting stories in the start up / SMB space – and through this, I came across and started working with an association called ‘Impact Hub’ who provide a community, resources and critically office space for start-ups looking to make an impact – everything from green technology to companies looking to re-train people who have lost their jobs.

The hubs charge start ups for desk space but also provide a lot of additional extras like access to a global network of companies and things like seminars / talks / networking in the evenings (basically it is more an incubator / accelerator). 

There is an opportunity to start an impact hub in Bombay – they do not operate in India at the moment. One of the issues they face when moving to cities like Bombay, New York etc. is that they have teams who want to get going but office space is expensive and hard to come by. In this case, I  have the space – approximately 2 floors (8k square feet) in Cuffe Parade but don’t have a team. 

Here is a picture of the space (it used to be a furniture showroom): 

Unfortunately I can’t be fully involved on the ground with this project at this point in time – the wife and I are expecting a little girl in August and with everything changing, now is not quite the time for me to quit my job and rock every aspect of life. 

So with that my questions to people in the community are:  

1) Do you think there would be demand for a hub in South Bombay or do you feel most of the activity is moving Central ? Location is quite key for things like evening events – no point if people have to travel hours to attend. 

2) Do you know of people who might be interested in founding something like this? I’d be looking to have a mix of skills in the team – maybe someone with accounting skills / marketing / IT / HR and preferably (but not restricted to) people that can take a bit of a risk in terms of going without income for a few months if that is what it takes to get operations off the ground – if a start up team wanted to take this on additional to their day job, I could barter free desk space in return. 

3) Ideally, I would like a venture like this to be associated with a body that could help fund projects. Do you know of any that might be interested? Or of any investors who might want to come to together? 

At this point, I would like some feedback on the idea and of course, introductions to people who might be interested. I haven’t decided whether to go for it or not  and therefore do not have a lot of detail worked out – a lot depends on putting together the right team. 

If you like to connect with me to discuss this further, I can be reached on

e: kalanjee@gmail.com 

t: @kalanjee