Internet giant Google has decided to mentor 25 startups for the very first time in India. The company would mentor the startups on topics like business development, marketing and design thinking. Till now Google has been playing part in Indian startups ecosystem as a sponsor of NASSCOM 10,000 Startups events, but now it will directly nurture and mentor startups in India.
The event will take place in the first week of November this year. The event is called Launchpad and will reportedly be a five day event. November will see numerous Google employees from across the world come to India to share and impart their knowledge, experience and industry expertise to the startups. The event will take place in the search giant’s Bangalore office.
The company has also announced a similar event for Brazil earlier this week.
According to Sunil Rao, who is the country head of startup ecosystem at Google India, this event would be a first of its kind in Asia. The event may then be rolled out in places like Tokyo as well.
The Launchpad is already a famous event in Israel. In Israel, the event is held as a one week pre-incubation program for early stage startups. Each day in the event is kept for a specific subject and includes one on one mentorship, presentation and focused work.
Top executives at the search company have made it very clear that Launchpad doesn’t aim at selecting or picking up companies for future investments. Till now, the search giant has contributed to the Indian startup scene by sponsoring National Association of Software and Service Companies 10,000 Startups program.
Google ventures has not yet invested in any Indian based company but Google Capital, the growth equity arm of the company has invested in a Chennai based company called Freshdesk, which has its headquarters in San Francisco.
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