ENTREPRENEURIAL Spark, the business accelerator for early-stage and growing firms that was first launched in Scotland, has revealed plans to set up "hatcheries" in India.

This expansion, ESpark's first move outside the UK, is being undertaken through a joint venture with Indian business-to-business services company Viridian.

The aim is to help 300 businesses grow and assist in the creation of 10,000 jobs in the first three years by supporting Indian entrepreneurs.

ESpark, which has public and private sector backers and offers office space and support, has three well-established "hatcheries" in Scotland, in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Ayrshire.

Among the Scottish companies which have enjoyed success after being supported by ESpark are healthy pizza pioneer Eat Balanced and shopping app developer Mallzee.

ESpark, which has been supported by Scottish businessmen Lord Haughey and Sir Tom Hunter, said it would open a string of centres across India to "support a growing culture of innovation and entrepreneurship and to help young businesses to create thousands of jobs".

Jim Duffy, co-founder and chief executive of ESpark, said: "We have chosen India as our first overseas expansion because of the huge potential there for entrepreneurship to make a difference.

"There is a growing entrepreneurial spirit in India, with a young, large and skilled population making the country uniquely placed to foster new business creation. But this raw material, or potential, is not matched with the means to make it happen. This joint venture does - it presents a clear and documented structure with a track record."

ESpark opened in Birmingham in February and, after launches in recent weeks, is now in Bristol, Brighton and Leeds.

The accelerator said that it would launch further UK locations over the next 18 months.