SBI Launches Its First Dedicated Branch For Start-Ups In Bengaluru

In order to assist and encourage start-up businesses, State Bank of India (SBI) on Tuesday announced the opening of the nation’s first “state-of-the-art” specialised branch here.

The branch opened by SBI Chairman Dinesh Khara is situated in Koramangala, one of the city’s largest start-up hubs together with its neighbouring neighbourhoods HSR Layout and Indiranagar.

“Overall, we are able to offer start-ups end-to-end services; in light of this, this particular start-up branch is the first start-up branch we are launching, from Bengaluru, the capital city of start-ups. It will undoubtedly increase the start-up potential, “added Mr. Khara.

He told local reporters that the bank would carefully assess the potential for such a start-up effort in other locations based on the experience it gains from this location.

He continued, “We will do it in the next six months. After Bengaluru, the next branch we will be opening in Gurgaon, and the third one will be in Hyderabad. These are the three areas where start-up activities are present.

In addition, Mr. Khara stated in response to a question that SBI has already provided 104 start-ups with debt financing, adding that “cumulatively it should be aggregating to 250 crore.”

He stated the bank has equity allocated for both listed and unlisted space, and added, “It is for both space, which is in accordance with RBI-regulated standards, and is not specifically for start-ups. We’ve already made certain investments totaling between 5,000 and 6,000 crore.”

In order to promote the entire start-up ecosystem in the state of Karnataka, the branch has also signed MOUs with programmes run by the Karnataka government, such as the Karnataka Innovation and Technology Society (KITS) and the Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM).

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