 "Start-ups to join Google class in June")
Google announced on Wednesday six Indian start-ups would join its Launchpad Accelerator at the tech giant headquarters at Silicon Valley in California in June.
This would be the second class of Indian start-ups. They will join 18 promising new companies from Brazil, Indonesia and Mexico.
The two-week boot camp, starting 13 June, will determine each start-up’s challenges and deploy precise mentors and try to find solutions. Google resources would also be provided to enable the products or applications of these companies to scale up.
“The Indian start-up ecosystem is maturing very fast. Entrepreneurs are not shying away from the risks and are very eager to learn. Access to good mentoring and advice at early and middle stages has been a big gap which we’re looking to fill,” said Paul Ravindranath, program manager, Google India.
He said: “In our experience, many start-ups struggle with UX, building scalable architectures and go to market strategy. Launchpad Accelerator Program brings together mentors and experts from within Google and outside to help these start-ups succeed. The first batch from India has benefitted a great deal and we are excited to get on board the second batch.”
The six-month-long mentorship program for start-ups will include $50,000 in equity-free funding, a two-week all-expenses paid boot camp at the Google headquarters, six months of ongoing mentorship and access to Google’s full suite of Launchpad initiatives, and connections and product credits including Google Cloud and other products.
Amarendra Sahu, the co-founder of Nestaway, who was part of the first batch from India, said, “If you believe you can build a world-class product, the mentors will push you to bet on yourself. We have benefitted a great deal from this program and have just closed a $30-million Series-C funding — one of the largest in India this year.”
THE MAGNIFICENT SEXTET
This would be the second class of Indian start-ups. They will join 18 promising new companies from Brazil, Indonesia and Mexico.
The two-week boot camp, starting 13 June, will determine each start-up’s challenges and deploy precise mentors and try to find solutions. Google resources would also be provided to enable the products or applications of these companies to scale up.
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Those from India include Taskbob and Programming Hub from Mumbai, ShareChat and PlaySimple Games from Bengaluru, and RedCarpet and Magic Pin from Delhi.
“The Indian start-up ecosystem is maturing very fast. Entrepreneurs are not shying away from the risks and are very eager to learn. Access to good mentoring and advice at early and middle stages has been a big gap which we’re looking to fill,” said Paul Ravindranath, program manager, Google India.
He said: “In our experience, many start-ups struggle with UX, building scalable architectures and go to market strategy. Launchpad Accelerator Program brings together mentors and experts from within Google and outside to help these start-ups succeed. The first batch from India has benefitted a great deal and we are excited to get on board the second batch.”
The six-month-long mentorship program for start-ups will include $50,000 in equity-free funding, a two-week all-expenses paid boot camp at the Google headquarters, six months of ongoing mentorship and access to Google’s full suite of Launchpad initiatives, and connections and product credits including Google Cloud and other products.
Amarendra Sahu, the co-founder of Nestaway, who was part of the first batch from India, said, “If you believe you can build a world-class product, the mentors will push you to bet on yourself. We have benefitted a great deal from this program and have just closed a $30-million Series-C funding — one of the largest in India this year.”
THE MAGNIFICENT SEXTET
- Taskbob, Mumbai
Biz: Providing assistance in jobs such as cleaning, supplying maids, drivers etc.
- Programming Hub, Mumbai
Biz: Provides apps to learn programming languages
- ShareChat, Bengaluru
Biz: Social networking in Indian languages, and sharing videos etc.
- PlaySimple Games, Bengaluru
Biz: Building simple social games
- RedCarpet, New Delhi
Biz: Provides instant credit, repayable in installments
- MagicPin, New Delhi
Biz: Provides a platform for offline merchants and provides real-time promotions