NASSCOM 10,000 Startups and Facebook Continue to Empower Social Impact Startups in India

ad
NASSCOM
NASSCOM 10,000 Startups and Facebook Continue to Empower Social Impact Startups in India

Broadening its resolve towards constructing a robust and cohesive developer community inspiring large-scale innovation for new internet users, NASSCOM 10,000 startups is back with the second edition of Code for The Next Billion program. In partnership with Facebook the program aims to not only inspire and encourage the “developer community” but also to make India the centre for app development and provide a strong global recognition. Code for the Next Billion is also supported by Invest India, who will be leading an extensive outreach campaign across the Startup India Hub.

Highlighting a firm focus to promote Social Impact Startups who are building mobile applications for new-to-internet/bottom of the pyramid users, the six month long program is aimed at accelerating the development and adoption of mobile internet applications across India.

Expressing delight over the launch of another edition of the program, Mr. KS Viswanathan, Vice President (Industry Initiative), NASSCOM, said, “Today, we are witnessing a remarkable growth in the startup ecosystem, propelled by innovative thinking and attitude to build solutions in key sectors where technology can play a revolutionary role. We believe that the program will not only catalyse the constantly innovating ecosystem but will also help design thought process in the country.”

As a part of the six month program, which has been structured into three phases, ten Social Impact Startups will be selected and mentored towards building a sustainable social enterprise. Starting in October, the first phase includes invitation and selection of applications from startups who have demonstrated a commitment to build for new-to-internet populations. In the second phase, the selected startups will be provided with technical, marketing, and financial mentoring, and leadership skills, to build their applications and businesses. In the third and final stage, also known as the graduation stage, startups will be made to connect with the industry leaders (CEOs, thought leaders, VCs, ecosystem evangelists, social change leaders), funders to bring public attention to their commitment, solutions and impact such that they inspire many other developers to build innovative solutions for new-to-internet users.

“We are excited to announce the second edition of Code for the Next Billion, in partnership with NASSCOM. At Facebook, we want to give people the power to build community and bring the world close and to achieve this we need to help solve the social, economic and technical barriers that exist for the unconnected. The program is a step forward in supporting social impact startups that are building for India’s next billion and encouraging a developer ecosystem that inspires innovation.” Noted Satyajeet Singh, Head – Strategic Product Partnerships – Facebook India & South Asia

Commenting on the launch of the program Mr. Deepak Bagla, Managing Director & CEO Invest India said, “Invest India is proud to partner with Code for the Next Billion, and enable it to reach all relevant stakeholders. It is extremely important that social impact startups receive the right support to take their businesses to the next level. The internet user base is increasing exponentially in India; this is an exciting opportunity waiting to be tapped by the startup community. Technological innovations brought forth by entrepreneurs will encourage inclusivity and adoption of digital solutions by people across the country.”

As per NASSCOM’s internet report, the number of internet users in India will see a two-fold rise at 730 million by 2020. Hence, there is a huge opportunity to connect them with useful services and information. The program aims to invest in developers who are building mobile apps to inspire large-scale innovation for new internet users. The partnership with Facebook will open new horizons for the developer community in India providing them the right support to develop and build innovative apps and mobile websites in the areas of education, financial, health and public utility.

About NASSCOM 10,000 Startups

10,000 Start-ups is an ambitious attempt by NASSCOM to scale up the start-up ecosystem in India by 10x. 10,000 Start-ups aims to enable incubation, funding and support for 10,000 technology start-ups in India over the next ten years. The program’s vision is to foster entrepreneurship, build entrepreneurial capabilities at scale and strengthen support for tech start-ups. The initiative brings together key stakeholders of the ecosystem including start-up incubators, accelerators, angel investors, venture capitalists, start-up support groups, mentors, and technology corporations. Since its launch in April 2013, the program has done about 800 events in 25 cities of the country which were attended by a whopping 30,000 attendees and received 17,800 Applicants, 2934 Start-ups Shortlists.

In 2016 alone, the program received over 4000 applications of which 658 startups were shortlisted, 130 women leaders were inducted and 300 influencers were involved in mentorship. The program is supported by Google for Entrepreneurs, Microsoft Ventures, Kotak, Amazon Web Services, Facebook , IBM and DigitalOcean.

 

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply