Goa has long been synonymous with beaches, parties and music festivals, but slowly and surely, Goa is becoming the preferred base for startups in India. But what is it about Goa that is making it an ideal location for startups in India?

Goa has Great Infrastructure

Goa boasts of stable electricity, proper sewage and water systems, decent roads in the major cities and affordable public transportation. Goa is also the only state in India that has motorcycle taxis; a fast, cheap and nearly omnipresent form of transportation.

Goa has (relatively) Affordable Real Estate

Imagine trying to get an office space in Mumbai, Begaluru, Pune or Delhi – not much needs to be said here as costs are beyond prohibitive.

In Goa, it’s quite easy to rent a beautifully located bungalow with a garden thrown in as well – plenty of space for 10 to 15 initial employees and a few dogs at the very least.

Even commercial office space in major cities, such as Panjim, Vasco and Margao, are reasonably priced and most landlords are open to negotiation specially around security deposits.

Several coworking spaces and shared offices are also beginning to pop up in Goa, including the newly opened Design Valley, by renowned architect Dean D’Cruz. There are also shared desks available at the gorgeous new office of the Swedish design team, Next Big Thing.

Initiatives such as CIBA (Assagao and Verna) and GITIC (Verna) are also steps in the right direction, that provide plug and play office space at very affordable rates.

Goa has Excellent Connectivity to Rest of India

Gone are the days of 18 hours bus rides from hell between the metros and Goa. Today, flight tickets are inexpensive and frequent and Goa is well-connected to major cities in India by train and air. Bus services are also much better and a journey ride takes about 11 hours between Mumbai and Goa. Of course, with telecommuting, this is even less of a hassle!

Goa has Efficient and Reliable Internet Connectivity

Quite obviously, internet connectivity is one of the main concerns for most entrepreneurs setting starting up. In this regard, Goa has made remarkable progress.

Of course, secluded beaches across the state still have no Internet connectivity, but the major cities like Panjim, Margao and Vasco, as well as the industrial estates in Verna and Ponda have fairly decent internet connectivity, with several sizeable tech companies working fine.

We recently did a post on the major Internet providers, such as BSNL, Reliance, Idea, Hathway and Tata, have a presence in Goa and can offer you broadband connection.

Goa has a Growing Base of Technical Talent

Hiring talent and retaining staff is one of the biggest challenges a startup faces. Yes, Goa does not enjoy the same density of IT engineers and  UI designers, as you would find in the metros. But to balance it out, Goa does not have a very competitive hiring environment either. Thus, if you run a good company with a plausible growth story, you already stand a fair chance of finding, attracting and retaining smart people in Goa (specially with our free job board!).

Additionally, with educational institutions like BITS (Pilani), NIT (Ponda), GEC (Farmagudi) and PCCE (Verna); Goa is beginning to produce high quality IT engineers that can power promising startups. Keep in mind that Goa doesn’t have many IT MNCs and thus, competition and IT salaries in Goa are not as sharp as they are in the metros. We have built a 19-person strong UI and product manager team, in less than a year, at dccper, almost entirely locally.

Goa has a Very High Quality of Living

It is common for startup employees and entrepreneurs to work 14 to 16 hours a day. Decent traffic, shorter commutes and more greenery are just the start that make life easier. Goa also has a thriving nightlife scene, lot’s of great restaurants (that are priced well below similar establishments in the metros) and of course, the beach, for a quick weekend getaway!

Goa is now also beginning to see several user groups and meetups for various topics such as web, design, architecture, Android, etc.

Goa has good and cheap beer!

This is probably one of the most critical aspects for most people. A steady, well priced and chilled supply of beer. Goa has among the lowest tax rates on alcohol in the country!

The bottom line – launch your startup In Goa now!

Several startups such as Powerstores, Vacation Labs, NextBigThing etc have already made the move to Goa (you can a view a map of the growing list of startups in Goa here). We do not provide any services related to setting up in Goa, but we can connect you with all the right people.

Tags: Goa, ideal location, startup goa, startup launch