Applications Open for Third Phase of NASSCOM 10,000 Startups

National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) today announced the commencement of the third phase of NASSCOM 10,000 Startups initiative by opening-up of applications from technology startups across the country.The first two phases had attracted 7000 applications of which 529 were shortlisted and 125+ benefited by way of receiving funding, acceleration and mentoring

NASSCOM also announced the launch of the NASSCOM Technology Startup Registry which will act as a repository of India’s technology startups in the web, mobile, e-commerce, SAAS, marketplace space and will act as a discovery platform for investors, enterprises, media and government authorities. In addition to this, NASSCOM also announced the roll-out of a skill initiative to create a talent pool of people with hands on skills required to excel in the tech startup market.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. R. Chandrashekhar, President, NASSCOM, said “India is emerging as the hotbed for technology startups and the NASSCOM 10,000 startup program will continue to partner with all stakeholders to help India emerge as an innovation hub. The first two phases had attracted 7000 applications of which 529 were shortlisted and 125+ benefitted by way of receiving funding, acceleration, mentoring, co-working space, enterprise connects and showcase opportunities through the program. We hope that the third phase brings up more such innovative tech start-ups with some brilliant products/solutions that impact not just the business but citizens across the globe. He further added, “NASSCOM will be working with the government to strengthen this ecosystem and have proposed setting up of ‘India Technology Entrepreneurship Mission’ as our recommendation to the government”.

Third phase of 10,000 Start-ups

With the launch of the third phase, NASSCOM will take forward the learning from its experience in the last one year and will focus on evangelizing and creating a robust ecosystem around specific domain and technology segments. The program will invite domain centric applications and plans to launch app-based contests.

The third phase will also see global leader in computing innovation – Intel to come on board as an industry sponsor and would collaborate with the initiative to make India a hotspot in the Internet of Things.

After the success of InnoTrek 2014, NASSCOM now plans to undertake more overseas start-up delegations to Israel, Singapore, Hong Kong and parts of Europe and showcase India’s most innovative Tech Startups building world class products. A special focus will also put on the NASSCOM-Google ‘Girls in Tech’ program to increase the representation of women founders in tech start-ups in the country.

Expressing his views, Mr. Ravi Gururaj, Chairman, NASSCOM Product Conclave, said, “Since the launch of the 10,000 start-ups program last year NASSCOM has been working with various stakeholders to create an inclusive ecosystem for companies in the domain. Recently, NASSCOM nominated 25 innovative technology start-ups from India for ‘InnoTrek 2014’ – a visit to US for entrepreneur focused events. With this initiative NASSCOM provided a global platform for young businesses to showcase their work at a global stage and get a first-hand experience of the Silicon Valley product ecosystem.

Tech Start-up Registry

With the aim to provide a one-stop platform for start-ups, investors, government, media and other related stakeholders, NASSCOM will create a national database of tech startups and identify the areas in which they are operating. This platform would also provide the start-ups an opportunity to be discoverable for investors, large enterprises, media and government.

Skills initiative for start-ups

While India is buzzing with entrepreneurial excitement, it still lacks the skills required to excel in a fast paced technology startup environment. With this initiative, the NASSCOM 10,000 Startups aims to create courses and modules aimed at imparting skills like Inbound Marketing, App Development, Big Data and Analytics, UI/UX and Product Management to create a pool of talent that could be Interned/Employed with the startups under the 10k banner. NASSCOM will also undertake a pilot project within the next quarter on these lines. All courses would be curated by an advisory board comprising of subject matter experts and would be delivered by practitioners online.

Mr. Rajat Tandon, Senior Director, NASSCOM 10,000 Startups, added “With an overwhelming response from entrepreneurs, the past one year has been very exciting for NASSCOM 10,000 Startup Initiative. Now with the roll out of the third phase this of the program, we aim to be expand our focus on structured networking, partnerships, and global exposure opportunities. Beyond this, we also encourage women entrepreneur in technology sector to step up and leverage the business opportunities being created.”

There are about 15,000 technology start-ups and SMES operating in India and these are the set of companies that need the right thrust from the government. The Entrepreneurship Mission proposed by NASSCOM aims to address current issues in ease of doing business in India; enable a supportive policy environment; catalyze funding and incentives for IP development.