Kolkata: Amazon and Invest India on Thursday announced the winners of the Amazon Global Selling Propel Startup Accelerator (the Accelerator). Slurrp Farm, Sirona Hygiene and Wellbeing Nutrition were named the top 3 winners of the program winning a combined total of USD 50,000 from Amazon in equity-free grant. The Accelerator was launched on Startup India Hub earlier in the year with the aim of helping emerging Indian businesses and startups to get access to customers across the world through Amazon’s e-commerce exports program and create global brands from India. The Accelerator got an overwhelming response from startups and emerging businesses across India, with over 500 entries from across the country. The top 10 finalists presented their business proposition to a distinguished jury including Kanwaljit Singh, Founder and Managing Partner from Fireside Ventures, Sakshi Chopra, Managing Director from Sequoia India, Abhijeet Muzumdar, Head of Amazon Smbhav Venture Fund and Corporate Development at Amazon and Aastha Grover, Head, Startup India Hub, Invest India. The panel evaluated the entries on a variety of parameters including business idea, scalability and strength of the business plan/model, business metrics in launched markets and founding team credentials and more. Some of the other participants in the program included upcoming brands like D’Moksha Homes and Soulflower from Mumbai, ‘Rage Coffee’ and ‘W2 Why Wait’ from Delhi NCR, Azani Active from Bangalore, Femora from Jaipur, and True Elements from Pune. “The Indian startup ecosystem has transformed India into a hub of innovation and entrepreneurship. Digitization has propelled the democratisation of access and opportunity for Indian businesses. Through this accelerator programme, we will tap the vast potential of emerging businesses and MSMEs to make an indelible mark in global markets “, said Deepak Bagla, MD & CEO, Invest India. Amit Agarwal, Global Senior VP and Country Head, Amazon India, said, “We created the Amazon Global Selling Startup Accelerator with a vision to help take the local expertise and innovation, global. We are truly excited about the innovation and passion we have seen and would like to congratulate all the winners. He added, “We worked with partners like Invest India, Sequoia Capital India, Fireside Ventures and others to attract some of the best minds in the country and provide them a springboard to create global consumer brands from India. We will continue to work with businesses of all sizes, helping them grow by reaching customers across India and the world.” As part of the Startup Accelerator, Amazon had constituted a mentorship board consisting of Amazon leaders from India and across the world, VCs and senior leaders from Invest India, who engaged with emerging brands to provide them tailored resources, 1:1 mentorship on the global demand patterns and insights on building successful exports businesses through e-commerce. Amazon also hosted open virtual mentorship sessions focused on peer learning by inviting veteran entrepreneurs and members from its mentorship board for startups, to network and learn from their existing ecosystem.
