With Hyderabad emerging as a hub for early stage start-ups in India, city based co-working space provider iKeva has decided to float a separate division iKevaZ ­ to cater exclusively to the unique needs of fledgling start-ups.Apart from Hyderabad, iKeva plans to open iKevaZ centres in Gurgaon, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Chennai in the next 15 to 18 months at an overall investment of around Rs 12 crore, said serial investor Sateesh Andra, who is one of the primary investors in the company .“The Hyderabad centre will go live in May followed by Gurgaon in July ,“ said Andra, who along with a bunch of investors including Ramesh Babu Byrapaneni, has invested around Rs 20-25 crore in iKeva till now.The start-up also has Bipin Chandra Dutt Pendyala on board.

Explaining the concept of iKevaZ, iKeva founder and general manager Monika Misra said the company will be selecting early stage start-ups to begin with and along with infra support (providing internet, office space, electricity etc), which will constitute 25-30% of the company’s offering, will provide mentoring and connect them to investors as well.

Speaking about the pricing model of iKevaZ centres, Misra said, “Our pricing model is going to be very competitive.While the cost per person at an iKeva centre in Hyderabad comes to Rs 11,000-12,000 per month, the cost per person at an iKevaZ centre is expected to be around Rs 7,000-8,500 per month. Our revenue model will be based on subscription fee and we will also evaluate the possibility of investing in some of the promising startups.“ Each centre would be spread over 7,000-9,000 sft and will be able to house 15-20 startups, she added.

Source: http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31809&articlexml=iKeva-sets-sight-on-early-stage-start-ups-06032015014030