India is playing a major role in a growing trend of new companies that are launched as global businesses right from the beginning, a media report said.
These businesses, often in technology sector, set up headquarters in Silicon Valley to take advantage of funding and ideas, but have major operations in places like Bangalore, giving them access to overseas markets as well as an increasingly innovative pool of talent.
India, with its booming tech economy and wealth of engineering talent, has become one of the biggest participants in the 'global garage', the San Jose Mercury Newspaper reported.
In the past three years, venture capitalists have invested more than $400 million in US-based start-ups (new businesses) operating in India, according to TSJ Media, a VC tracking firm in Chennai.
According to Ash Lilani, head of global markets for Silicon Valley Bank, the model was used in Israel five or six years ago. In the past 15 months, Silicon Valley Bank has helped as many as 50 valley start-ups set up offices in India, he told the paper.
Managing the far-flung business is not simple, but companies have no choice as India and China become major economies.
However, Rafiq Dossani, senior research scholar at Stanford University and an expert on India's tech explosion, has some doubts about the global start-up concept.
"You can't have 10 people sharing ideas - the serendipity you have from people sitting around talking," Dossani said. "It can't be planned through a WebEx call."
