In an attempt to facilitate and support start-ups in the country, the State Bank of India (SBI) on Tuesday announced the launch of its first “state-of-the-art” dedicated branch for start-ups in the country in Bengaluru. The Branch designated for start-ups will cater to the entire gamut of the Start-ups’ needs, at every stage of their evolution. Apart from providing funding and regular Banking Services, the Bank will also support the Start-ups with associated services viz., investment banking, treasury operations, advisory and other ancillary financial services, through its diverse subsidiaries, as per the SBI release.
The branch launched by SBI Chairman Dinesh Khara is located in Koramangala, which alongside neighbouring HSR Layout and Indiranagar are the biggest start-up hubs in the city, according to news agency PTI report. “…overall we are in a position to provide end-to-end services to start-ups, with that in mind this particular start-up branch is the first start-up branch we are starting, from the capital city of start-ups- Bengaluru. I’m sure it will further enhance the start-up potential,” Khara said.
Khara further informed that it will keenly evaluate the opportunity that exists in other cities for such a start-up initiative, stating that, “after Bengaluru, the next branch we will be opening in Gurgaon and third one will be in Hyderabad- these are the three locations where start-up activities are there and we will be covering them….we will do it in next six months.”
“Cumulatively it should be aggregating to ₹250 crore.” Stating that the bank has some equity allocations, which is both for listed and unlisted space, he said, “it is not specifically for start-ups, it is for both space, which is as per RBI regulated norms. We have already done some investment, it is over all around ₹5,000 to 6,000 crore,” Khara said while stating that SBI has already funded 104 start-ups through the debt route.
Apart from the banking services, the branch would also have specialist teams for capital markets assisting in equity raise and registration facilities, also housing specialist officers for the forex, treasury solutions, wealth management and credit needs of the start-ups, they said, adding that the bank’s subsidiaries like mutual funds and custodial services would also be partnering in the initiative, as per the SBI press release.
(With inputs from PTI)
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