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NASSCOM launches 2nd Phase startups program to boost entrepreneurship

Mumbai, India, November 21, 2013: Post the success of the 10,000 start-ups program, National Association of Software & Services Companies (NASSCOM), has launched 2nd phase of the program to further boost the entrepreneurial landscape in India. The 10,000 Start-ups program is inviting applications from technology startups across the country for Funding, Acceleration, Mentoring and Enterprise connects (F.A.M.E).

For the way forward, the program has devised new focus areas to further scale up the existing start-up support communities & entrepreneurial capability in India. While one stream would focus on providing opportunities to convert ideas into prototypes and share preliminary industry feedback, the other would focus on functional areas like Product Development, Go-to-market strategy, Talent acquisition and Industry connects.

President at NASSCOM Som Mittal said “The way India’s economy has grown in recent times is phenomenal. And to sustain this growth it is imperative to have more entrepreneurs in the country that will transform the landscape and propagate development. We are very pleased with the response that the 10,000 Startup program has received so far and are significantly enhancing the scope of the program in its second league. Adding value at various stages for technology startups in addition to the erstwhile proposition of funding and acceleration would be the primary focus of the program going forward. We are positive that this initiative will enable thousands of entrepreneur’s setup and grow their businesses and in the process further propel India’s economy.”

Under the ambit of 10,000 Start-ups, the program is additionally launching a one of a kind Startup-in-residence mentoring program where NASSCOM is collaborating with successful and entrepreneurial Tech companies in Consumer Internet and Software product space. This collaboration will enable incubation of early stage startups in their premises and support them through vertical experts specifically in the areas of Product Management, Technology, Marketing, Business Development and Human Resource. These renewed focus areas have immense potential and will continue to empower young entrepreneurs to create ventures of global scale from India.

In the previous cycle, NASSCOM received 4000 applications for funding and acceleration and shortlisted 332 and about 80 companies were supported by the program. In order to provide a much larger canvas to these companies, the program organized Pitch Sessions around the country that provided these start-ups an unprecedented opportunity to network with multiple angel investors and accelerators on a single platform. With the added aspects under the 10,000 Start-ups program, NASSCOM aims to successfully impact more than 200 companies. The selected startups will be provided with a startup kit worth Rs 10 lakhs and each will comprise of a host of free business tools from Microsoft, AWS and Google.

This invitation procedure will be processed through the portal www.10000startups.com. NASSCOM, along with its program partners, will focus on multifold activities aimed at fostering entrepreneurship, building entrepreneurial capabilities at scale and providing robust early stage support through mentorship. NASSCOM had commenced the 10,000 Start-ups program with the support of Google, Kotak, Microsoft and Verisign. Zinnov is the consulting partner of 10,000Start-ups.

1 Country, 10 Years, 10,000 Startups!