The Indian startup scene will take a big step forward with the launch of Global Superangels Forum's Accelerator program across 3 Indian cities - Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai. Set to start from October 2012, it is being heralded as the single largest funding platform for the Indian start-ups.
GSF Accelerator is the initiative of Rajesh Sawhney, founder of GSF Superangels, a network of 30 leading digital founders and investors. The key advisors to GSF include Naveen Tewari, CEO and Founder of Inmobi, a global mobile platform which raised $ 200 M from Softbank recently, Avnish Bajaj, founder of Matrix Partners, a venture fund, and ex founder of Bazee (acquired by ebay), Saul Klein, Partner at Index Ventures, co-founder of TAG and Seedcamp, and Dave McClure, founder of 500 startups, an early stage investor in the Silicon Valley.
Sawhney said that this program is built around three unique values: intensity of mentorship, deep collaboration with the ecosystem, and creation of a global springboard for the next generation of Indian start-ups. This program is designed to create the next wave of product-oriented technology start-ups in the areas of mobile, social, local and cloud. "There is no reason that Indian entrepreneurs cannot create the next Instagram, or the next twitter, or the next Inmobi," he said.
The program will run simultaneously in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore between October-November, 2012, with each location hosting 4 start-ups. Extensive coaching will be provided to each of the 12 GSF start-ups over a period of 7 weeks by a mentor pool of over 200 leading co-founders and digital masterminds from across the world. The GSF accelerator start-ups will attend 25 intensive and proprietary workshops conducted by global experts.
Sawhney explains, “Twelve start-ups will receive initial funding from GSF this year. This is the single largest funding platform for the Indian start-ups. GSF Superangels will provide further funding to a few start-ups at the end of the program. The 12 start-ups will also be showcased at the GSF2012 (The Second Global Superangels Forum) on Nov 26/27, 2012, where 400 leading early stage investors from across the world will meet start-ups."
Thirty leading founders are funding GSF Superangels and GSF Accelerator. Leading Indian funds such as Kae Capital, and Blume Venture have also partnered with GSF Accelerator. GSF has entered into key strategic partnerships to provide a global springboard for these start-ups. Says Sawhney, “GSF has tied up with the renowned 500 start-ups by Dave McClure to provide access to its Silicon Valley networks. Similarly, the leading European accelerator and mentorship platform, Seedcamp will provide deep access to the GSF start-ups in Europe. Similarly, GSF is proud to announce its tie-up with Singapore based fund, Ruvento. This relationship with Ruvento will create a cross-border fertilization of businesses and capital between India, Singapore and Russia."
Says Dave McClure, ”India is booming with innovation, and 500 startups is excited to be partnering with GSF Accelerator in one of the world’s most exciting entrepreneurial ecosystems. 500 has already made several several investments in India and we plan to do more in the future.” Added Reshma Sohoni, “Seedcamp is proud to partner with GSF Accelerator in India. We started 5 years ago with the objective of accelerating founders across Europe, broadened this to include EMEA and beyond, and are now happy to put a strong stake in the ground in India with GSF. The partnership also includes our US partner 500 startups so its great to work in India with Dave and Rajesh who we know well and share similar ethos about global support. We look forward to opening up the Seedcamp platform of advice, network, validation and capital to budding entrepreneurs from GSF and India."