'Positive about growth of startups in Kolkata'

The city's startup ecosystem is developing gradually and it has the potential to be a major hub of new age companies, investor group Calcutta Angels Network (CAN) said today. "The startup ecosystem is slowly developing in the city at present. A late starter in the game, the city has the potential to be a major centre for nurturing startups in near future," CAN President Sidharth Pansari said at a press conference here.

CAN, a body of 65-odd city-bred investors, has already funded 10 startups, including one from Kolkata. "We have decided to fund another 10 to 12 startups during the year, out of which three or four will be from the city," he added. He said that the presence of three incubation centres -- at Nasscom, IIM-Calcutta and IIT Kharagpur -- would help in nurturing the ecosystem which was so vital for startups.

Pansari said technology-related startups would get preference due to their scalability. "But others are welcome as well," he said. Started in 2013, the network hopes to be 100-member strong by 2017, he said.

Some of the successful startups funded by CAN include Ketto, Catapoolt and LogicRoots.