Amazon India unveils startup accelerator 2.0 to nurture emerging brands

To help emerging Indian brands and startups to reach customers around the world, Amazon India on Wednesday launched the second season of its 'Global Selling Propel' startup accelerator.

The participating startups will get an opportunity to win a total equity-free grant of $100,000 from Amazon as well as free AWS credits worth $10,000. The entries for the startup accelerator are open till March 14.

The company said that the programme will provide startups an opportunity to showcase their business propositions to partner VC firms - Accel, DSG Consumer Partners, Fireside Ventures and Sequoia Capital India.

"We saw great interest, ideas and entrepreneurial spirit in the inaugural season of the programme, and we are excited to now bring the season 2. It is part of our commitment to make exports easier for businesses of all sizes and enable $10 billion in e-commerce exports from India by 2025," said Amit Agarwal, SVP - India and Emerging Markets, Amazon.


Bollywood actor and investor Kunal Kapoor has joined the programme as a mentor, according to the company.

As part of the accelerator, Amazon has constituted a mentorship board consisting of company leaders from India and across the world, VC partners and other industry leaders.

Meghana Narayan, Co-Founder of Slurrp Farm and the winner of the inaugural season said that the programme helped them create sustainable business models.


"We have expanded our operations to the US and the UK markets and have also witnessed 100 per cent growth in sales,' she said.

Slurrp Farm, Sirona and Wellbeing Nutrition were the winners of inaugural season of the programme last year.

The programme will feature an eight week, one-on-one mentorship module for the short-listed participants, said the company. - IANS