The Aditya Birla Group may be decades old, but it is still keeping up with the times. Under its Bizlabs incubation programme, the group will partner with 25 startups to bolster its new areas of business in retail, financial services and telecom.
Started in October, the Bizlabs programme has named the firms as “collaboration partners” on its website. Most of these new firms provide digital solutions to engage with consumers and enlarge their base. Some of the companies named are Red Monster Games, Torch, Dressy, ePaisa, Mswipe, Touchfone, Instakash, Bankbazaar, Wealth Pack, Cloud Cherry, Faircent and Coverfox Insurance .
The startups are expected to be aligned to the Aditya Birla group’s existing businesses. For instance, Nifty Window, which helps bring online customers to a physical store, has been working with Madura Fashion and Lifestyle, Aditya’s Birla’s fashion arm which includes brands such as Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Peter England and Allen Solly.
Bizlabs has not revealed the funding it shall provide to incubate startups, but has received thousands of applications in the past few months, a company official told Mint on the condition of anonymity.
The company is looking to have a shortlist and work with them in partnership for growing their existing brands in unconventional ways, the official added.