Starter Guide to Chennai

Vanakkam Chennai!

Are you beginning your startup journey in this city? We’ve got something for you.

At Plum, we’re always talking to Founders like you who want to build the best teams and products. That’s why they take the giant leap of moving to a new city — one that matches their aspirations.

But, navigating a new city’s ecosystem while running a business and maintaining a social life can be tricky. In this guide, we’ve compiled everything you should know about Chennai’s tech, startup, and life beyond the work scene.

Table of contents

• Vanakkam Chennai!
• Table of contents
• Introduction
• But what’s with all the start-up energy in Chennai?
• TL;DR? We got you covered.
• Event aggregators and online communities
• Startup programs
• Active VCs and investors
• PR and media in Chennai
• People to follow on X
• Workspace and setting up your own
• Co-working
• Looking to set-up your office space in tech parks?
• Cafes to work out of
• Cafes ideal for deep work
• Cafes ideal for networking
• Ideal team outing places
• Neighbourhood breakdown for tech
• Chennai transit map: How to get from one place to another easily?
• Life beyond work: What’s in Chennai for you?
• Book recommendations
• Miscellaneous 101s
• Closing thoughts
• About Plum

Whether it's working with founders to create the right business and health insurance policies or building a resource kit to help you communicate with empathy — we help you put your needs first.

But our definition of care doesn't stop there. We built this guide to welcome you to a city that’s rapidly becoming a startup hub. Share this with your new and old team members, and if you have a relocation policy, linking this guide to help others navigate the same boat would be helpful! We built this to help you do just that.

If you'd like to learn more about Plum and what we're up to, follow this link.

Introduction

Bengaluru is considered as the Startup Capital of India. Mumbai has the financial capital and the Bollywood glamour associated with it. But, why Chennai da?

There’s an interesting excerpt from the time Girish Mathrubootham was building Freshworks.

Many Chennai entrepreneurs shift their base to Bengaluru once their startups reach a certain size. In 2011, G also contemplated shifting his base to Bengaluru. He went to the city, finalised an office space for his startup, and explored residence options. Then hurdles came. His employees didn’t want to relocate to Bangalore. Finding good schooling for his children also proved challenging. “It was as if the universe was conspiring to keep me in Chennai,” he said in an interview with Economic Times. And just like that, in the spur of the moment, G decided to build Freshworks from Chennai.

With the rise of Zoho alongside Freshworks, the city has gained a reputation for being a SaaS hotbed. Zinnov forecasts that Chennai could see the emergence of seven more unicorns in the next five years, including Uniphore, Mad Street Den, and Crayon Data.

But what’s with all the start-up energy in Chennai?

Three key reasons.

• Chennai’s large student community look for fresh jobs right after graduation.
• The city also has over 55 SEZs. This helps Chennai create a competitive breath-easy environment for enterprises to operate in.
• And lastly, Chennai has one of the most active start-up incubator communities ever. It has created an atmosphere of innovation, experimentation, and research of new ideas.

On an aside, Chennai is also considered a more liveable city. It is relatively safer, has shorter commutes, better traffic conditions, relatively lower cost of living, and lower air pollution. Unfortunately, the city moves slowly in the fast-paced startup world. For the young crowd, there are cultural challenges like the lack of vibrant nightlife. But all said and done, this is great city to live in. If you’re planning a move to Chennai or you’re already here, we hope this guide helps.

TL;DR? We got you covered.

Event aggregators and online communities

Where are all the founders and their teams hanging out?

Startup programs

Chennai’s accelerators, incubators, and startup programs to boost your 0-1 startup journey.

Active VCs and investors

A curated list of active and popular VCs, recommended by other startup founders in Chennai

PR and media in Chennai

Journalists covering the tech and startup beat in Chennai

• Dia Rekhi, Reporter, Economic Times
• Sindhu Hariharan, Senior Reporter, The Hindu Business Line
• Himanshi Lohchab, Tech Editor, ET
• Uma Kannan, Special Correspondent, New Indian Express
• Raja Simhan, Editor, Hindu Business Line
• Sangeetha Kandavel, Reporter, The Hindu
• Jarshad NK, Editor-in-Chief, YourStory
• Anu Raghunathan, Reporter, Forbes India
• Venkatesha Babu, Reporter, The Hindu Business Line
• T E Narasimhan, Senior Group Head, AdFactors PR
• Shine Jacob, Reporter, Business Standard
• Bijoy Bharathan, Opinions Editor, DT Next
• Hema Malini, Reporter, DT Next
• Bhavya Dhilipkumar, Reporter, MoneyControl
• Jude Sannith, Reporter, CNBC
• Vidya S, Reporter, Business Today

People to follow on X

Connect with people who’ve been active in Chennai’s start-up and tech scene

Workspace and setting up your own

Places you and your team can work out of + where other founders are likely to set-up their workspaces

Co-working

Looking to set-up your office space in tech parks?

Cafes to work out of

Cafes ideal for deep work

Cafes ideal for networking

Ideal team outing places

Neighbourhood breakdown for tech

Chennai transit map: How to get from one place to another easily?

Chennai is known for its affordable and well-connected transport systems. Here’s a comprehensive overview of Chennai's transit system visualised by a localite. Shoutout to @karthi9003.

Life beyond work: What’s in Chennai for you?

Are you nervous about making new friends in a new city? Don’t worry, we got you covered.

Here’s a curated list of communities, groups, and places in Chennai where you’re likely to meet people interested in the same things as you.

Book recommendations

• Chennai Not Madras: Perspectives on the City by A. R. Venkatachalapathy (Writings on the city from an elite middle-class perspective, epitomized by the opposition to the renaming of Madras years ago. This somewhat provocatively titled book highlights the vernacular character of Chennai)
• Tamarind City: Where Modern India Began by Bishwanath Ghosh (From moody, magical Madras to bursting-at-the-seams, tech-savvy Chennai, the two aspects of the city are inseparable. The author gives an evocative portrait of Chennai, drawn without reservation-sometimes with humour, sometimes with irony-but always with love)
• Madras, Chennai and the Self: Conversations with the City by Tulsi Badrinath (A layered image of Chennai by sifting through the author’s memories and by narrating the stories of those who call it home)
• The Illicit Happiness of Other People by Manu Joseph (A fictional novel based in the city of Chennai)
• Madras on My Mind: A City in Stories by Chitra Viraraghavan and Krishna Shastri Devulapalli (Multiple brilliant stories set in Madras)
• The Cat in the Agraharam and Other Stories by Dilip Kumar (Offers a distinct perspective on everyday life in the South Indian cities of Coimbatore and Chennai)
• Small Days and Nights by Tishani Doshi (Fiction story set in Madras, Kodaikanal, and Paramankeni)

Miscellaneous 101s

• New to Chennai and looking for hidden gems, shopping and food spots? Check Farhana Suhail’s NewtoChennai IG page for recommendations.
• If you’re seeking new experiences in Chennai, this page curates a list of things to do actively.
• Not sponsored but comes heavily recommended by a list of people we spoke to; Maria (aka The Bashful Baker on Instagram) is possibly the most popular baker in Chennai’s startup circle.
• Namma Stories on Instagram curates photos and stories of Chennai’s rich art, culture, and historical heritage. Follow them to know more.
• Looking for the best street food suggestions? Arvind Parthiban, Co-founder and CEO of Superops.ai, reveals his favourite spots over a YourStory feature.

Closing thoughts

We hope this guide is full of information that has been useful in your Chennai startup journey. Consider this a V1 and if you have any recommendations, resources, or information you’d like to contribute, please fill this form, and we’ll be happy to add.

About Plum

Plum is a modern-day insurtech, providing benefits and insurance for companies that care.

Our mission is to accelerate the adoption of health insurance in India by making employee health insurance and benefits accessible, affordable, and usable for employees. We also provide exclusive business insurance plans to help startups mitigate risk, enabling founders to go forth with courageous and ambitious bets.

If you’re a founder who wants to cover your team and business with the best care and benefits, visit our website.

P.S. We’d like to extend our gratitude to Body, Vishesh Rajaram, Kirthika S, Kingston David, Avinash Raghava, and Srikrishnan Ganesan for helping us build this out.