Google Selects 6 Indian Startups For Launchpad Accelerator 4th Edition

Global tech giant Google has announced the list of startups that will be joining the fourth edition of the Launchpad Accelerator Program, at the Google Developers Launchpad Space in San Francisco.

With this batch, a total of 26 Indian startups have so far joined the Launchpad Accelerator programme from India. The six Indian startups selected are: EdGE Networks, Fastfilmz, Indialends, RailYatri, RecipeBook and SigTuple.

Commenting on the development, Paul Ravindranath G, Program Manager, Google said, “These startups were shortlisted from hundreds of startups who applied this year based on their unique value proposition and use of latest technologies like machine learning and AI (Artificial Intelligence) to build high-impact solutions that are solving for the Indian context, focusing on new internet users and digital India.”

The programme will start on July 17, 2017. It is a six month programme and will include two weeks of an all-expense-paid mentoring bootcamp. During this programme, participating startups will receive mentoring from 20+ teams across Google and top technology companies and VCs in Silicon Valley. They will also receive equity-free support and credits for Google products. After their return from San Francisco, Google will continue to work closely with the startups.

More Details About Shortlisted Startups

EdGE Networks: Bengaluru-based HR tech startup, EdGe networks was      founded in 2012 by Arjun Pratap. It uses data science and artificial intelligence (AI) approach to analyse job descriptions and profile and provides a ranked set of people for the job in question. Pratap founded EdGE Networks with his own funds and later teamed up with the National Skill Development Corporation that funded the startup with a grant.

FastFilmz: Founded in 2016 by Karam Malhotra, the company aims at revolutionising mobile video, by using the compression technology built by V-Nova. It is dedicated to regional movies.

IndiaLends: IndiaLends was founded by Gaurav Chopra and Mayank Kachhawa. The Delhi-based fintech startup provides an online platform for services such as personal loans, unsecured loans, installment loans, and credit cards.

RailYatri: The startup was founded by IIT graduate Manish Rathi, Kapil Raizada, and Sachin Saxena in 2011. RailYatra is a big data platform that leverages crowd-sourced content to help long distance travellers. It provides comprehensive information on train status, reservation status, seat availability etc.

RecipeBook: Is a recipe discovery app that lets users find dishes of different cuisines and guides about how to cook them. Founded in 2015 , Kochi-based RecipeBook uses artificial intelligence (AI), image recognition capabilities, and Natural Language Processing (NLP) to simplify recipe discovery and cooking.

SigTuple: It is a data-driven intelligence platform for healthcare management. It builds intelligent screening solutions to aid diagnosis through AI- powered analysis of visual medical data. SigTuple was founded by Rohit Kumar Pandey, Apurv Anand and Tathagato Rai Dastidar in the year 2015.

The first batch of the Launchpad Accelerator, announced in December 2015 included Doormint, Frankly.me, Holachef, Justride, Murmur, Nestaway, and English Dost from India. The second batch saw participation of Taskbob, MagicPin, Programming hub, ShareChat, Red Carpet, and PlaySimple Games from India. The third batch was announced in November 2016. Google selected Flyrobe, HashLearn, Rentomojo, KaptureCRM, Curofy, Happy adda Studios, and Playment.

Earlier this month, enterprise software company Oracle invited applications for the Oracle Startup Cloud Accelerator Programme. In April 2017, Kishore Biyani-led Future Group launched the Future C&D (consumer and digital) Lab in Bengaluru. Earlier the same month, global tech giant Apple also opened the proposed App Accelerator in Bengaluru. Tech giants like Amazon, Microsoft Accelerator, Qualcomm, and Cisco have also launched accelerator programmes in India.

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