‘Start-ups must exhibit right business behaviour’

BENGALURU: Indian start-ups may have attracted investments worth billions of dollars from funds and investors in the country and abroad, but they still need to exhibit genuine business behaviour in order to attract banks to help solve their financial constraints, said Smita Bhagat, country head for government and institutional business, e-commerce and start-ups, HDFC Bank. 

During an exclusive interaction with the TNIE, Bhagat dismissed the notion that banking norms in India are not yet start-up-friendly. Early-stage ventures that show genuine business exercises, indulge in right kind of transactions, and are progressing (called as proper banking behaviour), are being helped by banks with the ‘ease of doing business’ and other facilities, she said.According to Bhagat, HDFC Bank has worked with 200-220 companies in fintech, agriculture, legal, MSME, e-commerce and other sectors that have shown potential by assisting them with mentorship, helping them connect with the bank’s high-net-worth clients for investment purposes, and conducting workshops for them throughout the country. Overall, nearly 9,000 start-ups have banked with the HDFC Bank till date, availing facilities right from bank accounts to advisories and other value-added services.

“We have 60 dedicated bank branches for start-ups, out of which 30 such ventures are in tier 2 and 3 cities. Today, I am more excited about the start-ups working from smaller areas that have shown great promise. We are working with start-ups from remote areas of Odisha and Jamshedpur, which have great business models. Funding is not a concern there; the management of money, scaling up and networking seem more important, which is where we have come to their help,” Bhagat said.Under the aegis of Parivartan, the umbrella name for its social initiatives, the HDFC Bank has disbursed SmartUp grants with a cumulative worth of `5 crore to start-ups working to offer unique solutions to bring about sustainable changes in the society and environment. More than 60 starts-ups have been given the SmartUp grants over last three years.