Accelerate 10X will mentor 100 start-ups every year to boost AI technology and skills among start-ups in India
National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) has announced to start mentoring programmes on Artificial Intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and blockchain technologies through its Accelerate 10X programme.
Accelerate 10X is its AI initiative and the second phase of ‘10,000 start-ups’ programme, which intends to mentor a hundred start-ups every year. The programme will cover three areas – product, technology (engineering and deep tech lab) and access to patient capital.
Rishad Premji, chairman NASSCOM, said that start-ups have been booming in the country and the association’s move to keep up with the AI revolution and the new-age technology will be determining if India would be entering the trillion-dollar opportunity.
NASSCOM’s partners
Accelerate 10X will be taking up mentorship for 10,000 start-ups in India in association with Tech Stars, Google, Facebook, IBM, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft. Together, these will support in setting up labs and innovation centres.
It will also be dealing with venture capital and private equity firms like AXILOR, SAIF Partners and Inventus Capital Partners. It has also partnered with PwC, Xinova and CEOQuest to deliver strategic mentoring.
NASSCOM has come up with AI mentorship programmes to accelerate AI technology in the country. He, however, feels that the biggest challenge is to infuse deep tech skills. The association believes that AI can contribute worth $957 billion to India’s economy by 2035. It has also projected a growth rate of 25-30 per cent for tech-related start-ups.
10,000 start-ups programme was launched in 2013 with around 100 funding deals. NASSCOM has around 700 fund deals worth $250 million in the present. According to reports, the start-ups related to Artificial Intelligence witnessed a 70 per cent increase in its funding in 2017. Investors mainly dealt with natural language processing for investments.
Debjani Ghosh, president, NASSCOM, said that the Internet of Things (IoT) section has been growing rapidly and will soon have a high impact on the employment scenario in the country. She added that deep tech and AI skills are the next big things in India.
