PayPal’s latest aide to startups is on its way. News reports say the eBay-owned payments company is set to launch its newest Start Tank, a resource for startups in need of business, financial and intellectual support
The Start Tank venture offers carefully selected, technology-centric startups access to investors, venture capitalists and business mentors, all in what PayPal calls “innovation space” without cost. Young companies are offered office space and technical training and network opportunities for a period of six months to about a year, known as the incubation period.
The newest Start Tank will launch in Bengaluru, a PayPal India senior executive told reporters. The company has already launched three others, located in Chennai, India; Boston; and London. While PayPal says the newest Start Tank is still in its planning phase, reports say the center will likely open next year.
And PayPal won’t stop there. PayPal Development Centres India general manager Anupam Pahuja added that the company is eyeing Shanghai and Singapore as places where the company can “help the startup ecosystem.”
Start Tank goes beyond the payments business to encourage technological innovation across all industries. Just last month PayPal chose two of 11 startup applicants to be join Start Tank in Chennai. Those companies were Clockwork Interviews, an online hiring tool that uses big data to match candidates to job openings, and Demach Software India, which offers a mobile app platform to facilitate user engagement. In Boston, Start Tank is currently housing Cylent Systems, a 24×7 response system for cyber attacks, as well as Project 2020, an on-site optometry service.
The possibilities are limitless. While Start Tank lends a generous hand to local startups, the project isn’t without benefit to PayPal, too. “Many of our employees are entrepreneurs themselves,” Start Take says on its website. “Allowing them to be an active part of local innovation allows them to grow as mentors and subject matter experts.
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