Google and MeitY Startup Hub to help 100 early to mid-stage Indian startups scale globally as part of Appscale Academy
Bhubaneswar : In 2021, time spent by users outside India on apps and games created by Indian companies grew by 150% compared to 2019 on Google Play, a sign of the potential and opportunity Indian startups and developers today have to drive app and game innovations for the world. Aiming to help India’s next generation of innovators unlock this growth opportunity, MeitY Startup Hub, an initiative of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), and Google today announced a cohort of 100 Indian early to mid-stage startups it aims to help build high-quality global apps and games as part of the Appscale Academy.
A growth and development program by MeitY Startup Hub and Google, the goal of the Appscale Academy is to identify and support promising Indian startups and help them grow into successful global businesses. The 100 startups were chosen from over 400 applications following an in-depth selection process that took into account their creative ideas and innovation, product quality, product scalability, and talent diversity.
Startups of the Appscale Academy cohort are solving for some of India’s daily, critical, and unique needs through creative homegrown solutions, including BitClass (a live learning platform), Farmyng Club (a social platform for farmers to improve their livelihood), Kutuki (preschool learning app), Sunita’s Makerspace (a community to foster innovation), Stamurai (a platform offering affordable and high-quality speech therapy), LearnVern (a job-oriented skilling app offering courses in vernacular languages), Vivasayam (an app promoting organic farming), and many more.
The cohort’s main sectors span Education, Health, Finance, Social, E-commerce, and Gaming. It also includes startups supporting core communities in India through creative apps across agriculture, B2B, parenting, and more. Representing the talent diversity emerging among India’s startup and developer ecosystem, 35% of the cohort come from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, including Surat, Vadodara, Kanpur, Lucknow, Meerut, Morbi, and many others. 58% of the cohort have a woman in a leadership role.
During her address at the program’s launch, Purnima Kochikar, Vice President, Play Partnerships, Google, said, “Today, India is uniquely positioned to become a leading hub for global app innovation with tremendous opportunity for Indian startups across the country, regardless of size and location, to thrive in the global app ecosystem. We thank MeitY Startup Hub for their partnership and vision, and look forward to taking another step towards growing a diverse app ecosystem in India together. Welcome to the inaugural Appscale Academy class, a cohort of 100 promising app-preneurs who have inspired us by their creativity and audacity.”
Bhuvnesh Kumar, Joint Secretary, MeitY, added, “Startups and developers are key drivers of India’s digital transformation journey. We are seeing them drive meaningful solutions for India and the world, a spirit that is today widespread across the country with a new wave of creative app-preneurs emerging from different parts of India. We at MeitY value our partnership with Google, and it gives me immense delight to further boost this spirit of innovation with the Appscale Academy Program.”
Jeet Vijay, CEO, MeitY Startup Hub, said, “Our mission with Appscale Academy is to empower early to mid-stage startups with the right knowledge and mentorship to drive app and game innovations for the world. Our cohort of 100 Indian startups are ensuring that a homegrown solution for many of our daily, critical, and unique needs is today just an app away. Congratulations to all the startups and thank you for being core drivers of India’s digital journey.”
As part of the 6-month program, 100 startups will be trained through a customized curriculum designed to help them drive high-quality apps for a global market, including sessions on UX design, business model and monetization strategies, international expansion best practices, and data safety and security practices. The startups will receive access to virtual instructor-led webinars, self-learning material, and mentorship sessions with leading local and global industry professionals. Select startups will also get an opportunity to pitch to leading venture capitalists.
Check out the Appscale Academy Class of 2022 below. For more details on the class and program, check out g.co/play/asa.
| Education
● ABC Song Rhymes Phonics Games: Fun learning for kids ● alphaTUB: Learn language through real experiences ● BitClass: LIVE learning platform for the curious & passionate ● Doubt Buddy: 24×7 doubt solving across subjects ● eduTinker: Online Live Teaching ● Lila’s World: Fostering imagination through play ● LearnVern: Job-oriented skilling platform with courses in vernacular languages ● Habbit: Find people, discover passion & grow together ● KidEx: Holistic development for children ● Koncept Klear: Community based edtech platform ● Kutuki: Preschool learning app ● Lifescool: Digital school for lifelong learning ● Parentune: 24×7 support system for parents ● Pet Perfect: Your pet parenting companion ● ProGame: Learn coding without conventional computers ● Skilling You: An initiative to make India skillful ● Sunita’s Makerspace: Community to bolster ideas & innovation ● SOKRA Academy: Interactive content in regional languages ● uKiddiy: Enable kids self discipline & savings habit ● Yocket: Support and guidance for studying abroad |
Health
● AyuRythm: Personalized holistic wellness ● being: 24×7 Personalized self-therapy ● Berry.care: Oral healthcare to detect oral cancer ● CareMe Health: 24×7 mental healthcare service ● Evolve: Self care tool for mental health ● Gratitude: Practice daily gratitude, be mindful, and live with intention ● Healcard: Solution for all medical healthcare needs ● iMumz: Holistic pregnancy and parenting app ● Live Fit Life: Improving lifestyle through physical and mental practices ● MediBuddy: End-to-end digital healthcare platform ● MySaheli: Utility and healthcare for women ● My Strack: Smart posture corrector and trainer ● OncoBuddy: Holistic support in the fight against cancer ● Raahee: Affordable and accessible mental health service ● Stamurai: Stammering & stuttering speech therapy ● SaveSoul: Peer-to-peer safety solution |
| Finance
● FinPlay: Investment simplified with games ● Free Bird: Loan tracker for debts, interest and repayments ● Jar: Daily savings and investments in digital gold ● Money360: Money management and online financial marketplace ● multipl: Balance lifestyle spends with savings and investments ● My Rental: Owner & tenant management system ● SAS Loans: Providing solutions for financial needs ● Snapmint: Online EMI store ● StashFin: Credit line and personal loans ● Zobaze POS: One stop shop manager for businesses |
Social
● Accented: Micro-blogging and petitioning platform ● Enigma: Online social platform for idea sharing, community collaborations and more ● Explurger: New age social media platform for travelers ● Farmyng Club: Networking community for farmers ● IncogApp: Private social network for free and open speech ● Matrubharti: Community of vernacular content creators and consumers ● Milaap: Crowdfunding platform ● Opined: Discussion-driven micro-blogging platform ● Swagit: Social media and social networking |
| Ecommerce
● ADVIRA: B2B2C food marketplace ● Clickastro: Astrology for positive guidance ● Dukan: Create and manage your store online ● Hopsticks: Visual food discovery platform ● Kalam Grocery: Online grocery business ● KWIKBOX: Global B2B2C marketplace ● MohallaShops: Helping sellers create online shops ● Order Taker: Online order taking platform for wholesalers and retailers ● Petuk JI: Online food delivery service ● WelcomeSwag: One-stop destination for all wedding needs |
Gaming
● Cat Town Mobile: Entertaining cat game ● Cooking Fest: Cooking game ● Darkarta: Online game ● Loop the Loop: Slitherlink game for all ages ● Slink.io: Multiplayer snake battle game ● Teen Patti: Online multiplayer card game ● ZigZag Fidget: Time your crazy fidget stick |
| Entertainment
● College Insider: Find, register and buy tickets for all college events ● Kavishala: One stop platform for literary minds ● Kuku FM: Audio stories and audio books ● MBit Music: Videos, ringtones and HD wallpapers ● Memeland: Create memes, fun videos and more ● Nojoto: Unlock the potential of spoken words through storytelling |
Agriculture / Agriculture Education
● Krishify: Digital community of agri stakeholders ● Mandi Central: Make informed decisions with agri-information ● Nkosh: End-to-end agriculture services for farmers ● Sat2Farm: Satellite based farming solutions ● Vande Kisan: Digital skilling for Indian farmers ● Vivasayam: Promoting organic farming |
| Business / Business-related
● Biznage Billing Accounting: Creating digital businesses ● Hello Leads: Easy-to-use mobile CRM ● Simple Invoice Manager: Solution for invoice management and billing operations ● Websites.co.in: Instant website builder ● ZyadaShop: Mobile-first solution for SME digitalization
|
Sports / Sports News
● LockerRoom India: Combat sports community ● Possible11: Fantasy sports predictions ● Sports That: Sports fan community |
| Lifestyle / Event
● Crooze: Rewarding cyclists for every ride ● My Salon Time: B2C salon platform ● Puja Purohit: One stop puja solutions ● Sri Mandir: Personal online mandir |
Other everyday essentials
● Growth Chart, Development Milestones & Vaccination: Baby tracking and parenting ● Sploot: Pet parenting community ● Vani Dialer: Voice assistance for incoming calls ● whizzQ: Online bookings and queue management |