Amazon India launches accelerator programme to boost e-com exports

Amazon India on Tuesday launched an accelerator programme to help early-stage startups in the consumer products segment go global, supported by money and mentorship.

The first batch of the six-month Amazon Global Selling Propel (AGSP) programme will have close to 10 startups. The programme has partnered with the government’s Startup India, Invest India initiative.

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Amazon India will provide a grant of $50,000 to the top three winners of the programme. It has also tied up with venture capital firms Sequoia Capital India and Fireside Ventures, which will invest in some of these businesses.

“Indian entrepreneurs are appreciating the value of their intellectual property, more than ever now and want to own their destiny, by creating indigenous products, rather than just being manufacturers. From an Amazon’s perspective, we thought of creating a programme to accelerate the phenomena in the country,” said Abhijit Kamra, director, global trade, Amazon India.

“The adoption of technology and digital transformation has paved the way for India to be at the forefront of innovation, giving rise to some of the best startups in the world. There are many promising, emerging brands that have the capability to become big and go global. This is a timely initiative by Amazon which can prove to be a big stepping stone for startups to build their business and get access to global markets,” said Deepak Bagla, managing director and chief executive, Invest India.

Amazon will also be hosting virtual mentorship sessions focused on peer learning by inviting veteran entrepreneurs and members of its mentorship board to help startup network and learn from the existing ecosystem.

“Amazon Global Selling, our flagship programme to grow exports from India is witnessing tremendous momentum with increasing interest from exporters across India. Our partnership with Startup India to launch this accelerator programme will provide emerging brands an opportunity to bring their business propositions to life and help create globally popular brands from India. With Amazon Global Selling we will continue to make exports simple and accessible to businesses of all sizes and fulfil our commitment of enabling $10 billion in e-commerce exports from India by 2025,” said Amit Agarwal, global senior vice president and country head, Amazon India.

Amazon chief executive officer Jeff Bezos, during his visit to India in January 2020, had pledged that the company will help export goods worth $10 billion from India by 2025. Amazon India said that it has already hit the $2 billion mark in July 2020, with close to 70,000 Indian sellers and small businesses being a part of its global selling initiative.