Google has launched an equity-free accelerator programme today. The Launchpad Accelerator will provide for mobile startups, which provides mentorship and access to its product team, as well as a startup package of up to $50,000 (roughly Rs. 33 lakhs) in seed funding. Only mobile app startups from Brazil, India, and Indonesia are eligible for selection. Google's Launchpad page for India currently lists startups like on-demand laundry-service Doormint, self-drive car rental startup JustRide, Mumbai-based food-tech startup HolaChef, and online furnished rentals marketplace NestAway, among others. As Roy Glasberg, Google’s Global lead for its Launchpad programs, told me, the accelerator was born out of Google’s existing Launchpad program for startups and its global series of events that launched about two-and-a-half years ago. Startups joining the accelerator programme can avail of many benefits, including free credits for Google products, marketing spotlight opportunities, and a two week all-expense-paid training trip to Google Headquarters in California. As Google looked at how it could have more impact on the startup ecosystem, the team realized that there were essentially two ways to scale its efforts. On the one hand, this meant expanding its online presence with better training tools and efforts like Google’s Udacity nanodegrees, as well launching projects like the Launchpad Days and Summits the company has now held in more than 30 countries. On the other hand, though, Google also wanted to be able to offer high-impact mentoring relationships to some startups and that’s where this new accelerator program comes in. Google hand-picked the three countries for the following reasons: Indonesia is a mobile-first nation and the fourth largest country in the world, with 255 million people; Brazil with a population of 200 million people has a rapidly growing internet base and faces many challenges. As for India, Google notes- India has over 600 million mobile users today, and this number is growing fast. If you’re based in India and developing an app to address India’s greatest challenges, then let’s work together! Join us in Bengaluru for six months to accelerate your app! In the FAQs, Google said that the Launchpad accelerator is aimed at supporting mature startups with great ideas to scale, and is not designed to compete with existing programs. Following a two-week visit to the Google campus, startups will get mentorship from experts at Google for six months, and will be provided a workspace provided by Google without charge. Interested startups can fill in the form. Facebook has a similar FBstart program for startups, which provides mentorship and a package of free tools and services, including Facebook ad credits. Facebook in August claimed to have given benefits valued at $20 million (roughly Rs. 132 crores) till date to Indian developers. Besides making a difference for these individual startups, Google also hopes to make an impact on the wider startup ecosystem in these countries by building an alumni network. “We want to give all startups the best resources they can get,” Glasberg said. “No matter where they are.” Google expects to expand this program to additional countries in the long run. If you are in India, Brazil and Indonesia, though, you can now apply to become part of the second class, which will begin in mid-2016.
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