What began as a Boston-centric program for entrepreneurs is going global. After a successful two years in action, PayPal’s Start Tank is expanding into London and Chennai, India.
The programs will be a natural product of each city’s unique innovation ecosystem, PayPal Media Network COO and Start Tank Co-Founder David Chang told BostInno. As such, the London and Chennai Start Tanks will have their own distinct areas of focus, similar to how Boston’s has a concentration in adtech, ecommerce and consumer-facing companies, Chang explained.
“In terms of number of people and startups, Boston will still have the largest innovation space,” shared Chang. “We’ll be rolling out the Start Tank brand, which was born in Boston, into other regions, including places that already have their own efforts.”
Last year, PayPal opened an incubation space at its offices in Chennai to empower local developers and startups. In coordination with PayPal moving into a new space in London, the UK branch of the company is launching its own innovation endeavors.
The pair of new programs will bring in their first “waves” of early-stage, pre-funded companies this fall, coordinated with the Boston StartTank’s fourth wave. “Eventually, we want to coordinate application efforts,” shared Chang, adding that programs in multiple cities give companies the opportunity to operate in two different regions.
The Start Tank’s international expansion keeps up momentum from the last year. The incubator ushered 23 companies – the largest class yet – into its Downtown Boston accelerator this spring. Nine startups were recently selected by local ad agency teams to participate in the Brand-a-Thon, a hackathon-style event co-hosted by the Start Tank and The Ad Club to give companies access to professional branding work for free.
Tuesday, July 1, marks the final day for applications for the Boston Start Tank’s fourth wave of companies. Applications for Chennai and London’s Start Tanks, however, will be available sometime this summer.
Said Chang, “Boston is pioneering some pretty innovative ideas.”
Image via Start Tank
