Amazon launches the season 2 of Propel Startup Accelerator; program aimed at boosting exports and creating global brands from India
- Sequoia Capital India, Fireside Ventures continue as VC partners from Season 1, Accel and DSG Consumer Partners come on board
- Popular Bollywood actor and angel investor Kunal Kapoor joins the program as a mentor
- Participating startups stand to win equity free grant worth $100K from Amazon and a chance to pitch to partner VC firms
- Slurrp Farm, Sirona and Wellbeing Nutrition were the winners of inaugural season of the program in 2021.
Bengaluru – February 09, 2022: Amazon India today announced the launch of the second season of Global Selling Propel startup accelerator – an initiative designed to provide dedicated support to emerging Indian brands and startups to reach customers around the world. The startup accelerator has been designed to support early-stage startups in the consumer products space to launch in international markets and create global brands from India through Amazon’s Global Selling program. The participating startups will get a chance to win a total equity free grant of $100,000 from Amazon as well as free AWS credits worth $10,000.The program will provide startups an opportunity to showcase their business propositions to partner VC firms – Accel, DSG Consumer Partners, Fireside Ventures and Sequoia Capital India. Popular Bollywood actor and angel investor Kunal Kapoor has joined the program as a mentor.
Amit Agarwal, SVP-India and Emerging Markets, Amazon said,“The Global Selling Propel Accelerator is designedto provide emerging companies an opportunity to bring their business propositions to life and create globally popular brands from India. This is in line with the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision of creating a thriving startup ecosystem and making startups the engines of India’s economic growth.We saw great interest, ideas and entrepreneurial spirit in the inaugural season of the program, and we are excited to now bring the season 2. It is part of our commitment to make exports easier for businesses of all sizes and enable $10 billion in e-commerce exports from India by 2025.”
As part of the Startup Accelerator, Amazon has constituted a mentorship board consisting of Amazon leaders from India and across the world, VC partners and other industry leaders who will engage with emerging brands and provide them tailored resources, 1:1 mentorship and workshops on the global demand patterns and insights on building successful exports business through ecommerce.
Meghana Narayan, Co-Founder, Slurrp Farm and the winner of the inaugural season said,“With a mission to expand to global markets, we launched Slurrp Farm on Amazon a few years ago. Our focus was to cater to mothers across the world and help them feed their children nutritious food which are easy and quick to make. The Amazon Global Selling Propel Startup Accelerator last year played a pivotal role in our success, helping us create sustainable business models which helped increase brand’s value proposition and visibility in markets across the world. Today, we have expanded our operations to US and UK markets globally and have also witnessed 100%+ growth in sales. We are confident that Season II will play a transformation role in the success of participating startups to win in global markets.”