NASSCOM 10,000 Start-ups Program Announces its 4th Phase

• Now about two years old, 9000 applicants, 800 shortlisted startups across 22 cities in India;

• Phase 4 to bring in a robust focus on domain specific product innovations; and comprehensive skill based mentoring support for early stage startups.

The National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) today marked the second anniversary of its 10,000 Start-up Program to create 10,000 domain specific start-ups in the country by 2020. As the 10,000 start-up program keeps rolling to its fourth phase of shortlisting, Phase 3 had 500 startup shortlists who went through pitch and mentoring konnect sessions. Applications are currently being processed on FIFO basis till 22^nd April for the next session of Startup Konnect which is a mini boot-camp program for shortlisted startups who will be eligible for connect-2-pitch with all ecosystem partners including leading accelerators, angel investor networks and venture capital firms.

“Startups are the lifeblood of our economy,” said Rajat Tandon, Senior Director, NASSCOM 10,000 Startups, “We today have the support of 150 volunteer mentors, industry specialists, angel investors and VCs, as well as a startup alumni network like no other. We can proudly say that through its phases the 10,000 start-ups program has been able to carve out many success stories across domains. Now with the roll out of the fourth phase, we are looking to accelerate more startups who will re-define the technology landscape of the country."

Startups must apply for the program here and provide a detailed overview of their business idea and the market opportunity. Approximately 200 startups will be shortlisted for the 4^th Batch, handpicked by the ecosystem partners. Shortlisted startups will participate in the intensive accelerator pitch and mentoring connect sessions starting June 1^st week across Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata, Chennai and Hyderabad. They also get a Start-up Kit – a package worth $25,000 of value added services and credits from Google, Microsoft, AWS, Knowlarity, HackerRank, and Kotak.

We are impressed by 10,000 Startups' work to foster a vibrant ecosystem of innovation and entrepreneurship in India. We are very excited for the fourth phase of 10,000 Startups Program that enables entrepreneurs to connect with investors and mentors to grow and expand.” added,Mary Grove, Director, Google for Entrepreneurs

“Microsoft Ventures has been working with NASSCOM 10,000 startups to accelerate high potential startups and we are delighted to see the impact of our partnership. Many of the startups we have helped gain traction through our accelerator programs were previously incubated in the 10K Warehouse and the startups have benefitted from both programs immensely. We are positive that this partnership will continue to build a stronger ecosystem for startups in India and provide them promising future.” said, Ravi Narayan, Managing Director, Microsoft Ventures India

About 10,000 Startups:

Started in April 2013, 10,000 Startups is an ambitious attempt by NASSCOM to scale up the startup ecosystem in India by 10x. 10,000 Startups aims to enable incubation, funding and support for 10,000 technology startups in India over the next ten years. The program’s vision is to foster entrepreneurship, build entrepreneurial capabilities at scale and strengthen early stage support for tech startups. The initiative brings together key stakeholders of the ecosystem including startup incubators, accelerators, angel investors, venture capitalists, startup support groups, mentors, and technology corporations. Since its launch in April 2013, we’ve done about 450+ events in 22 cities of the country which were attended by a whopping 25,000 attendees and received 9000 Applicants, 800 Startups Shortlists, and 150 Impacts. The program is supported by our founding partner Google for Entrepreneurs, Microsoft Ventures, Intel, and Kotak Mahindra Bank.

About NASSCOM:

NASSCOM® is the premier trade body and the chamber of commerce of the IT-BPM industry in India. NASSCOM is a global trade body with more than 1800 members, which include both Indian and multinational companies that have a presence in India. NASSCOM's member and associate member companies are broadly in the business of software services, software products, consulting services, BPM, e-commerce and web services, engineering services and animation and gaming. NASSCOM’s membership base constitutes over 95% of the industry revenues in India and employs about 3.5 million professionals.