SBI Capital Markets Launches First Dedicated Branch For Startups

The investment banking arm of SBI, SBI Capital Markets, established a presence in Bengaluru to launch the first dedicated branch for startups and to focus on business prospects in the infrastructure, real estate, and defence sectors of the state. The company offers solutions for capital markets, ESG advisory, project advisory, and structured financing, among other services.

The largest lender created a special branch for entrepreneurs in Bengaluru’s Koramangala neighbourhood in August of last year, and now the SBI office has just opened. SBI chairman Dinesh Khara launched the office in the presence of his coworker and MD Swaminathan J, as well as managing director and chief executive Amitava Chatterjee of SBI Capital. Khara claims that Bengaluru is the centre for important IT businesses.

Additionally, from the perspective of capital markets and portfolio companies of private equity (PE) coverage, Bengaluru offers significant opportunities across a range of industries. Karnataka was the first state to establish a specialised Startup Cell to advertise its ecosystem. Bengaluru, according to Khara, stands head and shoulders above all other cities as the birthplace of around 30 of India’s 100 unicorns.

In particular, the real estate, infrastructure, defence, and technology sectors—including start-ups in Karnataka—offer a variety of prospects for business finance, according to Swaminathan. The dedicated SBICAPS presence in Bengaluru is a step in the right direction towards forging this connection, he noted. To take advantage of this, SBI and SBICAPS have started collaborating.

The choice of Bengaluru for coverage of southern India, according to Chatterjee, was motivated by the potential for infrastructure and real estate investments, the city’s proximity to significant defence industry players, the importance of information technology in nation-building, and the requirement to support the startup ecosystem.

SBICAPS is currently in operation, with a corporate office in Mumbai and regional offices in New Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Ahmedabad. There is a designated senior vice-president who will oversee operations and be in charge of covering all of Southern India at the sixth regional office of SBICAPS, which is located at Lady Curzon Road.