Flipkart picks 8 finalists for startup accelerator program

E-commerce major Flipkart on Tuesday said it has selected eight finalists for the maiden cohort of its startup accelerator program that will now undergo a 16-week mentorship program and receive an equity-free grant of USD 25,000.

The Walmart-owned company had launched 'Flipkart Leap' in August last year to help new startups grow, scale, navigate challenges, and contribute to India's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem.

"After a rigorous four-stage process, eight finalists were shortlisted from among more than 920 applicants across five categories: Design and Make for India; Innovations in Digital Commerce; Technologies to Empower Retail; SCM and Logistics; and Enabling Deep Tech Applications," a statement said.

The eight cohort companies are ANS Commerce, Entropik Tech, Fashinza, Gully Network, Piggy, Tagbox Solutions, Unbox Robotics, and Wolkus Technology, it added.

"These shortlisted startups will now undergo a 16-week mentorship program conducted by a team of Flipkart leaders and various industry experts. The mentorship program has been crafted to provide knowledge of Venture development and secure partnerships for the selected startups under two separate tracks," the statement said.

While the first track will include one-on-one business and technical mentorship, masterclasses, and networking sessions focused on venture development, through tools and best practices for building a scalable business in India, the second track will help the startups explore partnership opportunities with relevant business units at Flipkart.

In addition, the finalists will receive an equity-free grant of USD 25,000 each, it added.

"With Flipkart Leap, we aim to nurture promising startups and help them create compelling solutions for customers and bring value to the industry. The quality of the startups and the number of applications we received has been encouraging,” Flipkart Vice President (Product Strategy and Deployment) Naren Ravula said.